European young adults prefer hearing about other people’s health experiences over established health websites

A recent survey has shown that young adults in Europe may prefer hearing about other people’s health experiences similar to theirs, rather than trusting online health websites.

The survey, conducted by pharmaceutical company Teva Pharmaceuticals Europe shows that there may be a majority of young Europeans who take comfort in hearing about health experiences similar to their own.

The survey results show that over half of 18-24 year olds prefer hearing about similar experiences while less than a quarter of the same age-group trust online health websites and even less (17%) believe they will receive quality and dependable information from online search engines such as Google.

The research involved 5,000 participants across France, Poland, Germany, Russia and the UK and showed 73% searching for health information online more than once a month. The data suggests that young adults are struggling to find the information they need about their health. Instead they are turning to forum-style websites which may contain inaccurate health advice.

Teva published these findings to coincide with the start of the flagship UK healthcare conference – NHS England’s Health & Care Innovation Expo 2016, being held in Manchester on September 7 & 8. Teva is serving as NHS England’s ‘Digital Zone’ partner at this year’s Expo, with the aim of sharing experiences, examining best practices, and understanding drivers and barriers to adopting digital technologies in healthcare that have the potential to improve patients’ healthcare experience and boost healthcare outcomes.

Tim White, head of digital experience at Teva Pharmaceuticals Europe and speaker on a joint NHS-Teva conference panel, said: “Across Europe, our research shows a generation of young people fully engaged in digital technologies to improve or maintain good health, but they’re not turning to peer-reviewed, professionally recognised healthcare resources available online. Digital technology is creating the ‘connected patient’ who’s having a greater say in managing his or her own care. So it’s our responsibility to work together with European healthcare providers to build confidence, foster healthcare literacy and ensure that information and health technologies accessed by people of all ages is reliable and trusted.”