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Decisions to Seek and Share: A Mixed Methods Approach to Understanding Caregivers Surrogate Information Acquisition Behaviors

Thomas, Sarah Nichole
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1595545894518707

Abstract Details

2020, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Communication.
Introduction: Surrogate information seeking (SIA), or the act of seeking information on behalf of another, is a common health behavior. However, the phenomena remains under studied. The first study tests key propositions of the Lay Information Mediary Behavior (LIMB) model in order to understand surrogates’ motivations for SIA, engagement in active and passive SIA behaviors, and willingness to share information with care recipients. The second study tests an extended Cognitive Mediation Model (CMM) to further understand the cognitive mechanisms linking surrogates’ seeking and sharing behaviors. Study 1: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with caregivers of breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancer patients (n = 19). Thematic analysis of these interviews suggested that caregivers engaged in active and passive SIA for intrinsic and extrinsic reasons. Caregivers predominantly sought information to close their own knowledge gaps, but they still shared new or novel information with their care recipient. Study 2: A cross-sectional survey was administered to the caregivers of breast cancer patients diagnosed within the last two years (n = 130). Partial support was found for the proposed model. Distal variables including surveillance gratifications, information requests, and caregivers’ perception of patient information gathering capacity were associated with active and passive SIA behaviors. SIA behaviors, in turn, were associated with attention and elaboration. Perceived knowledge and elaboration were associated with sharing information with care recipients, but cognitive processing did not play a role in caregivers’ perceptions of knowledge. Conclusion: Taken together, the studies in this dissertation suggest that while information surrogates are occasionally extrinsically motivated, most SIA is intrinsically-motivated. Caregivers engage in active and passive SIA, and share with their care recipients. Additional motivations, such as surveillance gratifications and perceived patient information gathering capacity, were associated with SIA behaviors, which were in turn associated with deeper elaborative processing. However, deeper elaborative processing was not associated with greater perceived knowledge. The inability of the CMM to predict how surrogates learn information, and the infrequency of extrinsically motivated searches suggest that future research should focus on identifying additional mechanisms connecting seeking to processing, including traditional theories of information seeking. Interventions should focus on making caregiver education accessible and identifying patient and caregiver information needs.  
Shelly Hovick, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Cho Hyunyi , Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Jesse Fox, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
174 p.
Communication
Breast cancer; cervical cancer; endometrial cancer; cancer survivor; caregiver; caregiving; information seeking; qualitative; cognitive mediation; thematic analysis

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Thomas, S. N. (2020). Decisions to Seek and Share: A Mixed Methods Approach to Understanding Caregivers Surrogate Information Acquisition Behaviors [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1595545894518707

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Thomas, Sarah. Decisions to Seek and Share: A Mixed Methods Approach to Understanding Caregivers Surrogate Information Acquisition Behaviors. 2020. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1595545894518707.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Thomas, Sarah. "Decisions to Seek and Share: A Mixed Methods Approach to Understanding Caregivers Surrogate Information Acquisition Behaviors." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1595545894518707

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.
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