Most consult Dr Google before GPs
Two-thirds of us head online before seeking healthcare professional advice for common health conditions, a new report has revealed.
Two-thirds of us head online before seeking healthcare professional advice for common health conditions, but most admit they don’t understand the information they find, a new report has revealed.
The trend has prompted concerns from experts about patients falling for misinformation or dodgy advice rampant online.
A report launched by Consumer Healthcare Products Australia found in a survey of more than 2000 people that eight in 10 used health websites and social media to manage common health conditions.
While less than half of baby boomers went online as a first port of call, more than 80 per cent of millennials turned to Dr Google or social media for healthcare information before seeing a GP or pharmacist.
The report, called Self Care Opportunity Report, found despite the rate of people going online for their healthcare advice, more than half found it difficult to find credible information.
CHP Australia chief executive Deon Schoombie said given Australia was experiencing another Covid wave, it had never been more important to ensure people knew where to find and how to interpret health information online. “What was very concerning for us was finding that a large number of people don’t fully understand the way to interpret the health information they find online,” he said.
“And there’s so much online, everything from completely dodgy to absolutely scientific and everything in between. Being on computer and looking at that, how do you know what is rubbish and what is correct?”
Dr Schoombie said there was a significant “turning point” for government and healthcare professionals by making a greater investment in self-care education, upskilling digital health literacy and creating more verified and easy-to-access digital health sources.
In the survey, just one in five rated their health literacy as high whereas one in three believed their health literacy was low.
Mitchell Institute professor of health policy Rosemary Calder said the report demonstrated “the new world we are coming into … We turn online for everything from food shopping to personal effects … and health shopping.
“People are now able to buy health supplements of various kinds, health treatments, access a huge range of apps that purport to help you diet or improve your physical activity. We recognise this is new way of accessing information (but) misinformation is a huge concern.”
Professor Calder said there was “enormous risk” faced by having no standards of evidence or authority to screen information online or help individuals decipher health information.
She said Covid had driven more people online while at the same time had seen more sources of misinformation proliferate across the digital landscape.
To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register
Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout