Title: Health Information Needs and Seeking Behaviour of Parents/Caregivers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Nigeria
Author(s): Cajetan Okechukwu Onyeneke
Publication Year: 2022; Volume 17, Issue 2, pages 23-31

Purpose – The study aims to assess health information needs, seeking behaviour and patterns of parents/caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Don Guanella Centre, Nnebukwu in Nigeria. The study mainly investigated information needs of the parents/caregivers, their preferable sources and seeking patterns, information grounds they are familiar with and their challenges they are faced with in meeting their health information needs. Design/methodology/approach – A case study research design approach was adopted for the study. The study sampled 45 participants whose ages ranged from 25 – 65 years. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection at the Centre while a descriptive analysis of the data collected was done with the use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 15. Findings – Findings of the study revealed that health information needs of parents/caregivers were mostly about health care matters like nutrition/diets (M =4.07, SD = 0.92), causes of disease (M = 3.13, SD = 1.28) and health education (M = 4.02, SD = 0.97). The parents/caregivers have exposure to different information grounds (example, workplaces, activity groups, religious groups, social groups and professional groups). They depend on their exposure to information groups such as workplaces (M = 4.72, SD = 0.49), Social groups (M = 4.15, SD = 0.91), and religious groups (M = 4.56, SD = 0.62) for their information needs. Parents/caregivers expressed preference for some information sources in their search for health information. These sources include printed books and journals, newspapers/magazines, television and radio, healthcare professionals and information specialists, and the internet. Practical implication – The implication of this study is that it will provide a paradigm shift on information seeking and use among parents and caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Nigeria and other developing countries of the world with similar conditions. Originality/value – There is dearth of literature on this topic and therefore, this study provides important insight into the information needs and seeking patterns of parents/caregivers of children with ASD in developing countries.