ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Health information helplines have an important function in health education, prevention and counseling. Information and help services are increasingly provided online. This study focuses on the differences and similarities between online help services and telephone services. METHODS: The telephone service of the Dutch AIDS STI helpline was compared to its e-mail equivalent. After consulting the helpline service, both callers and e-mailers (N(tot) = 455) were asked to participate in a survey that evaluated their background characteristics, contacting reasons, and satisfaction with the specific service and information received. The survey also included questions regarding the advice received from the helpline. A follow-up measure 4 weeks after the baseline survey evaluated to what extent clients acted upon the advice. RESULTS: The study shows that both services are positively evaluated and are equally persuasive in their counseling. Differences between callers and e-mailers were found regarding background characteristics, content of the consultation, satisfaction, and the advice received. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that online health information services are an important addition to, but not a replacement for, the traditional telephone helplines. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: In order to provide an optimal health service to a wide public, both online and telephone counseling should be offered.
Subject(s)
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome , Counseling , Electronic Mail , Hotlines/organization & administration , Information Services/organization & administration , Patient Satisfaction/statistics & numerical data , Sexually Transmitted Diseases , Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/diagnosis , Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/prevention & control , Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/transmission , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Child , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Health Care Surveys , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Humans , Information Services/statistics & numerical data , Internet , Logistic Models , Male , Middle Aged , Netherlands , Outcome Assessment, Health Care , Patient Education as Topic/methods , Professional-Patient Relations , Sexually Transmitted Diseases/diagnosis , Sexually Transmitted Diseases/prevention & control , Sexually Transmitted Diseases/transmission , Socioeconomic Factors , Surveys and Questionnaires , Telephone , Time Factors , Young AdultABSTRACT
AIDS telephone hotlines have an important function in AIDS education, HIV prevention and counselling. In this study, consults of the Dutch AIDS information helpline were evaluated to determine the AIDS information needs of the callers and callers' satisfaction with the telephone-delivered information and consultation. Immediately after their telephone consult, callers (N = 309) were redirected to co-workers of an independent telephone survey. They participated in an interview on content and evaluation of the telephone consult. This study shows that most telephone calls concerned questions about personal risk of HIV transmission, HIV transmission in general and HIV testing. Callers were very satisfied with the services of the helpline. Furthermore, helpline employees' counselling and conversation skills were evaluated very positively. These results are discussed within the scope of the professional organization of the Dutch AIDS information helpline.
