Preferred Information Vehicles

Preferred Information Vehicles

The previous questions examined past habits of information consumption and may also point to more passive search methods. Respondents were then asked about where they would go if they were looking for information today. This question highlights not only the most top of mind current sources of information, but may also reflect more active (rather than passive) search methods. The top sources of information about HIV/AIDS among Canadians are websites or the Internet (48 per cent), doctors (39 per cent), and other health care professionals (23 per cent). This is followed by books and the library, and then Health Canada (16 and eight per cent, respectively). Only six per cent say that they would look at an AIDS organization as an information source. Relatively few Canadians cited health journals, family or friends, school or various other media outlets. These findings suggest that while few people have generally been informed through the Internet and health care professionals in the past, if they had a specific question today, these are the sources they would use.

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• Websites and the Internet are cited as a source more often among Ontario residents (54 per cent), while those in the Atlantic region are less likely to do so (41 per cent). Those between the ages of 25 and 44 are more likely to cite this source (61 and 58 per cent, respectively), whereas only 18 per cent of seniors do. The use of the Internet increases with education and income. People who have children who are younger than their teens and those who perceive a status quo in the risk of HIV infection are more apt to use websites and the Internet (61 and 55 per cent, respectively).
  
• Residents in the Atlantic region as well as in British Columbia and Alberta are more likely to use doctors as a source for information on HIV/AIDS (51 and 46 per cent, respectively), while those in Quebec are less likely to say this (24 per cent). Seniors (47 per cent) and people with low self-rated knowledge of HIV/AIDS (44 per cent) are more apt to cite doctors. Those who do not believe that HIV/AIDS is a very serious problem are less likely to do so (33 per cent), as are those who perceive no change in the risk of HIV infection and who have high self-rated knowledge of HIV/AIDS (34 and 33 per cent, respectively).
  
• Other health care professionals are more apt to be a source among residents in Quebec (31 per cent), as well as among lower education and income individuals than other Canadians and decreases with rising education and income.