Recent years have seen a dramatic change in the health information environment, particularly in relation to the increasing availability of health information via electronic format. E-health, is generally defined as "an emerging field in the intersection of medical informatics, public health and business, referring to health services and information delivered or enhanced through the Internet and related technologies" (Eysenbach, 2001). Certainly, the Internet has in many ways changed the way how individuals: seek health information, make healthcare decisions, and interact with their primary care providers (Dutta-Berman, 2004; Kivits, 2004;Ziebland, 2004). There is rife evidence regarding the popularity of the Internet as a health information source (Fox, 2005;Rideout, 2001;Rideout et al. 2005). In 2005, the Pew Internet & American Life Project, estimated that close to 95 million Americans or 80% of Internet users have gone online to search for information on at least one major health topic. The notion of "informed patient" in the electronic era has changed and may have many implications on a number of issues including:
How is health information seeking behavior related to health decision making and health behaviors? Specifically, how is this different in the e-health era?
How has health information source selection behavior changed in the e-health era? What are the implications of these on the type of literacies consumers need to develop to cope with these changes? (e.g., health literacy, health information literacy, information and communication technology literacy)?