A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä
Preliminary investigation of individuals as information sources among two language minorities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Finland
Tekijät: Ojaranta A, Ahmadinia H, Eskola E
Kustantaja: Informaatiotutkimuksen yhdistys - ITY ry
Julkaisuvuosi: 2020
Lehti:Informaatiotutkimus
Tietokannassa oleva lehden nimiInformaatiotutkimus
Vuosikerta: 39
Numero: 2–3
ISSN: 1239-3614
DOI: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.23978/inf.99084
Verkko-osoite: https://journal.fi/inf/article/view/99084/56770
During the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus, people acquire and exchange health information about COVID-19 through different communication channels. It is important to understand the role of individuals as information sources and gain understanding of health information-seeking behaviour among language minorities during a pandemic. Lalazaryan & Zare-Farashbandi (2014) described health information-seeking behaviour as any individual{\textquoteright}s activities that are related to seeking, obtaining, and making use of health information either regarding illnesses or treatments. In a pandemic, the health information-seeking focus may change more towards securing one{\textquoteright}s own health and supporting the close ones in the same crisis (Dreisiebner, März, Mandl, 2020). The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern (Jee, 2020; WHO, 2020). A pandemic raises feelings like fear, worry and anxiety. Mental health concerns have been raised in tow of the pandemic because of numerous reasons. One of them is the isolation millions of people have endured during the first and the ongoing second wave of COVID-19. WHO has established mental health recommendations of how individuals can care for their mental health during times of crisis. In these recommendations family and friends play a role, for instance in following ways:“keep in touch with friends and family”,“establish a support network”,“develop a feeling of belonging to the collective care process”(WHO, 2018).