Family Role in Health Information Access

Participants with a healthcare professional in their family had an additional advantage of being able to question a trusted expert directly. Digital access to hospital health information was consistently framed as family-dependent. Participants who lacked tablets, smartphones, or digital skills relied entirely on younger relatives to access online hospital materials. Family members were actively involved in finding, accessing, and interpreting health information, particularly digital information. Some participants turned to their local library for digital access help in the absence of family support. Family members were themselves a target audience for reassurance about the procedure's safety, as patients' families were often more anxious than the patients themselves.