Parental experiences of eczema advice in online parenting forums: a qualitative interview study
Parental experiences of eczema advice in online parenting forums: a qualitative interview study
Background: parents of children with eczema are increasingly turning to online parenting forums for advice about how to manage it. Little is known about how parents make sense of advice about eczema treatments in online forums, and how it affects their management of childhood eczema.
Aim: to explore how parents of children with eczema make sense of and act on advice about eczema treatments exchanged in online parenting forums.
Design & setting: qualitative interviews with parents of children with eczema from the UK.
Method: fifteen parents were recruited through online advertisements and snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were carried out face to face or by telephone, and analysed inductively using reflexive thematic analysis.
Results: when seeking advice from online parenting forums about eczema treatments, parents described appraising the credibility of advice and considering the potential suitability of treatments that were recommended in the forum. Parents proceeded to make sense of online advice through either reading advice and not engaging in online discussions, or actively engaging in online discussions to direct topics and seek most relevant advice. Parents discussed advice received online in subsequent consultations with their GP and requested prescriptions of recommended treatments. Some parents described trying new treatments without consulting their GP.
Conclusion: understanding how parents appraise, make sense of, and act on online advice could support healthcare professionals to disseminate advice appropriately, ask additional questions, and signpost parents to reliable online resources.
child health, dermatology, eczema, general practice, primary healthcare, qualitative research
Treadgold, Bethan Mair
2a3db993-882b-4fc3-9919-8966edf08aa1
Muller, Ingrid
2569bf42-51bd-40da-bbfd-dd4dbbd62cad
Teasdale, Emma
f156de5f-e83e-40c0-aafa-0c95dd17aa80
Coulson, Neil
eaee5265-b3a5-4560-a48f-1684bb8e0b59
Roberts, Amanda
f5809cd3-5555-41b9-8a04-7ab12849efe5
Santer, Miriam
3ce7e832-31eb-4d27-9876-3a1cd7f381dc
June 2023
Treadgold, Bethan Mair
2a3db993-882b-4fc3-9919-8966edf08aa1
Muller, Ingrid
2569bf42-51bd-40da-bbfd-dd4dbbd62cad
Teasdale, Emma
f156de5f-e83e-40c0-aafa-0c95dd17aa80
Coulson, Neil
eaee5265-b3a5-4560-a48f-1684bb8e0b59
Roberts, Amanda
f5809cd3-5555-41b9-8a04-7ab12849efe5
Santer, Miriam
3ce7e832-31eb-4d27-9876-3a1cd7f381dc
Treadgold, Bethan Mair, Muller, Ingrid, Teasdale, Emma, Coulson, Neil, Roberts, Amanda and Santer, Miriam
(2023)
Parental experiences of eczema advice in online parenting forums: a qualitative interview study.
BJGP Open, 7 (2), [BJGPO.2022.0155].
(doi:10.3399/BJGPO.2022.0155).
Abstract
Background: parents of children with eczema are increasingly turning to online parenting forums for advice about how to manage it. Little is known about how parents make sense of advice about eczema treatments in online forums, and how it affects their management of childhood eczema.
Aim: to explore how parents of children with eczema make sense of and act on advice about eczema treatments exchanged in online parenting forums.
Design & setting: qualitative interviews with parents of children with eczema from the UK.
Method: fifteen parents were recruited through online advertisements and snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were carried out face to face or by telephone, and analysed inductively using reflexive thematic analysis.
Results: when seeking advice from online parenting forums about eczema treatments, parents described appraising the credibility of advice and considering the potential suitability of treatments that were recommended in the forum. Parents proceeded to make sense of online advice through either reading advice and not engaging in online discussions, or actively engaging in online discussions to direct topics and seek most relevant advice. Parents discussed advice received online in subsequent consultations with their GP and requested prescriptions of recommended treatments. Some parents described trying new treatments without consulting their GP.
Conclusion: understanding how parents appraise, make sense of, and act on online advice could support healthcare professionals to disseminate advice appropriately, ask additional questions, and signpost parents to reliable online resources.
Text
BJGPO.2022.0155.full
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 14 March 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 16 March 2023
Published date: June 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
This study was funded as part of a PhD studentship by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Authors, All Rights Reserved
Keywords:
child health, dermatology, eczema, general practice, primary healthcare, qualitative research
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 477869
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/477869
PURE UUID: 69b607a2-380b-4768-a5af-ec937eb56556
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 15 Jun 2023 16:59
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:19
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Contributors
Author:
Neil Coulson
Author:
Amanda Roberts
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