title: What young people want from health-related online resources: a focus group study.
abstract: The growth of the Internet as an information source about health, particularly amongst young people, is well established. The aim of this study was to explore young people's perceptions and experiences of engaging with health-related online content, particularly through social media websites. Between February and July 2011 nine focus groups were facilitated across Scotland with young people aged between 14 and 18 years. Health-related user-generated content seems to be appreciated by young people as a useful, if not always trustworthy, source of accounts of other people's experiences. The reliability and quality of both user-generated content and official factual content about health appear to be concerns for young people, and they employ specialised strategies for negotiating both areas of the online environment. Young people's engagement with health online is a dynamic area for research. Their perceptions and experiences of health-related content seem based on their wider familiarity with the online environment and, as the online environment develops, so too do young people's strategies and conventions for accessing it.
authors.affiliation: MRC/CSO, Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, 4 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow, UK.
authors.forename: Gillian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fergie
authors.affiliation: MRC/CSO, Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, 4 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow, UK.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.affiliation: MRC/CSO, Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, 4 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow, UK.
authors.forename: Shona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hilton
keywords: Internet; health; leisure; social media
references.citation: J Med Syst. 2010 Apr;34(2):107-17
references.pmid: 20433049
references.citation: Health Promot Int. 2003 Dec;18(4):381-6
references.pmid: 14695369
references.citation: Fam Pract. 2000 Apr;17(2):156-8
references.pmid: 10758079
references.citation: Int J Med Inform. 2010 Jun;79(6):391-400
references.pmid: 20188623
references.citation: Dermatol Clin. 2009 Apr;27(2):133-6, vi
references.pmid: 19254656
references.citation: J Adolesc Health. 2005 Sep;37(3):243
references.pmid: 16109345
references.citation: Adolescence. 2008 Summer;43(170):253-74
references.pmid: 18689100
references.citation: J Adolesc Health. 2010 Oct;47(4):418-20
references.pmid: 20864013
references.citation: J Med Internet Res. 2003 Dec 18;5(4):e32
references.pmid: 14713660
references.citation: Sociol Health Illn. 2005 Nov;27(7):972-92
references.pmid: 16313525
references.citation: J Adolesc Health. 2009 Oct;45(4):420-2
references.pmid: 19766949
references.citation: Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2009 Jan;163(1):35-41
references.pmid: 19124701
references.citation: Bull World Health Organ. 2009 Aug;87(8):566
references.pmid: 19704998
references.citation: Soc Sci Med. 2005 Mar;60(6):1299-309
references.pmid: 15626525
references.citation: J Am Coll Health. 2009 Sep-Oct;58(2):101-11
references.pmid: 19892646
references.citation: J Health Soc Behav. 2008 Mar;49(1):20-36
references.pmid: 18418983
references.citation: BMC Womens Health. 2006 Jun 20;6:9
references.pmid: 16787534
references.citation: Drug Alcohol Rev. 2010 Sep;29(5):525-30
references.pmid: 20887576
references.citation: J Adolesc Health. 2010 Aug;47(2):206-8
references.pmid: 20638014
references.citation: BMJ. 2002 Mar 9;324(7337):557-8
references.pmid: 11884303
references.citation: Qual Health Res. 2008 Apr;18(4):509-21
references.pmid: 18192435
references.citation: Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2001 Jul;155(7):813-7
references.pmid: 11434849
references.citation: Am J Mens Health. 2010 Mar;4(1):77-85
references.pmid: 20164062
references.citation: J Adolesc Health. 2010 Aug;47(2):168-75
references.pmid: 20638009
references.citation: JAMA. 1997 Apr 16;277(15):1244-5
references.pmid: 9103351
references.citation: J Med Internet Res. 2009 Apr 06;11(2):e12
references.pmid: 19403464
references.citation: Soc Sci Med. 2005 Apr;60(7):1467-78
references.pmid: 15652680
references.citation: Arch Dis Child. 1987 Nov;62(11):1125-9
references.pmid: 3688916