A qualitative analysis of health information seeking among African American adults in South Carolina

Structural racism impacts education, economics, insurance coverage, and overall health. As a result, African American adults often have poorer access to quality healthcare, which is interconnected to social determinants of health. This study used a health and financial literacy approach to qualitatively determine how African American Adults in South Carolina find out about health information, how they decide the information is true, and how to pay for it (n = 20). Results indicated that participants place great value on the opinions of family and friends as well as health professionals and online information when seeking health information. These findings also appeared when examining how participants find out whether a piece of information is trustworthy or not. Additionally, participants reported difficulty navigating the healthcare system. This research identifies a need for both coordinated health literacy programming and structural changes in access to healthcare information in order to improve health literacy and access to healthcare among African American adults.