How Does COVID-19 Differ from the Flu/Cold? A Study of Multilevel Information Seeking among Korean Immigrant Women in the U.S.
Methods: We analyzed the posts on Missy USA––one of the largest Korean online communities for married Korean immigrant women. Two sets of data, one for COVID-19 (n=726) and the other for the flu/cold (n=50), were analyzed with codes at different levels, which were adapted from the social-ecological model.
Results: Applying the social-ecological model, we found that about 80% of information regarding the flu/cold and about 60% of COVID-19 information was concentrated at individual, interpersonal, and organizational levels. Information seeking at the community level was more frequent for COVID-19 than for the flu/cold.
Conclusions: Our finding that Korean immigrant women primarily sought information regarding COVID-19 serves as a theoretical contribution at the transnational level, which might be relevant for immigrant women during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords: COVID-19; HEALTH INFORMATION SEEKING; KOREAN IMMIGRANTS; SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL MODEL; TRANSNATIONAL LEVEL
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1: Sou Hyun Jang, Assistant Professor, Sungkyunkwan University, Department of Sociology, Seoul, South Korea 2: Gowoon Jung, Assistant Professor, Kyung Hee University, Department of Sociology, Seoul, South Korea;, Email: [email protected]
Publication date: 01 July 2021
The American Journal of Health Behavior seeks to improve the quality of life through multidisciplinary health efforts in fostering a better understanding of the multidimensional nature of both individuals and social systems as they relate to health behaviors.
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