Leanne Chang

A study on Singaporean women's acceptance of using mobile phones to seek health information.

OBJECTIVE This paper is an exploratory study that investigates Singaporean womens acceptance of using mobile phones to seek health information. METHOD A mobile web containing health topics was developed to track Singaporean womens actual use of their mobile phones to seek health information. A survey questionnaire measured variables hypothesized to predict Behavioural Intention. The survey responses were then matched to the data collected on actual use. Correlation analysis and hierarchical regression were used to analyze the data collected. RESULTS Findings revealed that Perceived Usefulness and Self-efficacy positively predicted the intention to use mobile phones to seek health information. The study also confirmed the presence of an intention-behaviour gap among participants. The conversion of intention to actual behaviour hinges on technical concerns and design factors. Prior experiences with health information seeking reinforced womens evaluations of the usefulness of the mobile web application and helped them to feel more self-efficacious about using their mobile phones to seek health information. Using mobile phones to seek health information was found to be complementary to online health information seeking and can be regarded as an alternative source to the internet for seeking health information. CONCLUSION This study contributes to the existing literature by applying the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in the context of mobile health information seeking, for which there has been a lack of studies, and demonstrated that the inclusion of additional variables can enhance TAMs predictive power. The empirical presence of an intention-behaviour gap calls for future research to investigate the reasons behind the gap. Finally, the findings from this study can serve as input to promote womens use of mobile phones for better self-management of health.

Influences of AR-Supported Simulation on Learning Effectiveness in Face-to-face Collaborative Learning for Physics

Augmented Reality (AR), using a mixture of the virtual and physical world, has been recognized as a promising environment for improving the quality of collaboration in educational domains. To identify how an AR-supported simulation affects collaborative learning, this study compared collaborative learning effectiveness between the conditions of AR-supported and traditional face-to-face collaborative learning for Physics. The findings revealed that collaborative use of the AR-supported simulation resulted in higher levels of perceived skill development, self-reported learning and learning interest. The individual learning achievement was also strengthened with the use of AR-supported simulation in collaboration. This study provides empirical evidence for supporting the potential value of AR technology in collaborative learning practices and has implications for research on learning effectiveness evaluation in CSCL.

Seeking and Processing Information for Health Decisions Among Elderly Chinese Singaporean Women

Information behavior includes activities of active information seeking, passive acquisition of information, and information use. Guided by the Elaboration Likelihood Model, this study explored elderly Singaporean women’s health information behavior to understand how they sought, evaluated, and used health information in everyday lives. Twenty-two in-depth interviews were conducted with elderly Chinese women aged 61 to 79. Qualitative analysis of the interview data yielded three meta-themes: information-seeking patterns, trustworthiness of health information, and peripheral route of decision making. Results revealed that elderly women took both systematic and heuristic approaches to processing information but relied on interpersonal networks to negotiate health choices.

Negotiating Biomedical and Traditional Chinese Medicine Treatments Among Elderly Chinese Singaporean Women

In this article we examine how elderly Chinese Singaporean women navigated between biomedicine and traditional Chinese medicine in their practices of maintaining well-being. We interviewed 36 elderly women to understand their negotiation of medical choices in the interplay of structure, culture, and personal agency. Our findings show that participants made situational decisions under structural and cultural influences, such as family members’ changing expectations and interpretations of medical practices, institutional preferences for biomedicine, and the patients’ negotiating position between biomedicine and traditional Chinese medicine. Participants demonstrated their capacity to enact agency through their examination of the effects and side effects of each medical system and through their integrative use of different medical treatments, depending on the purpose. Through our findings, we unveil contextual meanings of health among elderly women and the unique coexistence of traditional and modern medical practices within the context of Singapore.

Exploring Family Support for Older Chinese Singaporean Women in a Confucian Society.

ABSTRACT This study investigated the functions of family support in older Chinese Singaporean women’s daily health management in a Confucian cultural context, wherein family solidarity and women’s caregiving responsibilities are emphasized. Thirty-eight interviews were conducted with ethnic Chinese women above the age of 60 in Singapore. Our thematic analysis showed that older women played dual roles as support providers and recipients in the family. Their caregiver identity and intent to preserve tradition resulted in a downward transmission of informational and physical support and their hesitance to accept resources provided by younger family members. The asymmetrical flow of family support generated mixed impacts on the women’s daily health management. In their transition between tradition and modernity, older women fulfilled their family responsibilities but did not require their children to do so. Our findings suggested an integration of familial and institutional resources to meet older women’s support needs and help them enhance their health behavior.

Are You a “Woman”? Representation of Femininity in Two Women's Magazines in Singapore, Cleo and Her World

Magazines are a part of popular culture, conveying messages through text and images. These messages are framed through the selection, placement, and emphasis communicating social meanings, often depicting images of “how to be a woman.” Therefore, a study employing content analysis was conducted to examine portrayals of femininity vis-à-vis masculinity within womens magazines in Singapore. The findings are reflective of changing frames of femininity in media contents, where blurry lines of femininity in opposition to masculinity are emerging. New frames of being a woman are identified in dichotomized frames of being traditional versus being modern. Framed images continue to create a lens for interpreting social meanings of how to be a woman, which in turn continually creates expectations of women to meet the ideal image.

Sociality of Mobile Collaborative AR: Augmenting a Dual-Problem Space for Social Interaction in Collaborative Social Learning

Mobile collaborative augmented reality (AR) technology demonstrates great potential for augmenting learning experience in collaboration. The convergence of AR, collaboration and handheld devices opens up more opportunities for strengthening the effectiveness of social interaction in collaborative learning. We conceptualize it as a new form of collaborative learning, collaborative AR social learning. Based on the reflections of the sociality characteristics of mobile collaborative AR, we develop a model for better understanding this emerging instructional medium. It has implications for the development of mobile collaborative AR applications for educational purposes in the future.

Mobile phone-based health application for women: a Singapore study

The purpose of this paper is illustrate why and how a mobile-phone based application was proposed to explore how women react and their acceptance toward well-being management after interacting with the application. It was organized by considering the Female-focused Design Strategy (FDS) and designed to have three features: a description of health topics, a self-help diagnosis through step-by-step questions and quizzes about health topics to test general health knowledge. The paper reports the qualitative user feedback and discusses the recommendations and trends for future design and implementation for womens health.

Factors associated with mobile health information seeking among Singaporean women

ABSTRACT This study examined effects of age and social psychological factors on women’s willingness to be mobile health information seekers. A national survey of 1,878 Singaporean women was conducted to obtain information on women’s mobile phone usage, experiences of health information seeking, and appraisals of using mobile phones to seek health information. Results showed that young, middle-aged, and older women exhibited distinct mobile phone usage behaviors, health information-seeking patterns, and assessments of mobile health information seeking. Factors that accounted for their mobile information-seeking intention also varied. Data reported in this study provide insights into mobile health interventions in the future.

Examining Live-In Foreign Domestic Helpers as a Coping Resource for Family Caregivers of People With Dementia in Singapore

ABSTRACT In Singapore, the responsibility of caring for persons with dementia falls on family members who cope with a long-term caregiver burden, depending on available support resources. Hiring foreign domestic workers to alleviate caregiver burden becomes a prevalent coping strategy that caregivers adopt. This strategy allows caregivers to provide home care as part of fulfilling family obligations while managing the caregiver burden. This study aimed to investigate primary caregivers’ relationship with hired support and its impact on coping with caregiver burden. Twenty in-depth interviews were conducted with primary caregivers who hired live-in domestic helpers to take care of their family members with dementia. The findings revealed that caregivers perceived the normative obligations to provide home care to family members with dementia. They sought support from domestic helpers to cope with physical and mental burnout, disruption of normal routines, and avoidance of financial strain. A mutual-support relationship was built between caregivers and domestic helpers through trust and interdependence. The presence of domestic helpers as a coping resource reveals the positive outcomes of problem-, emotional-, and diversion-focused coping. This study illustrates that coping strategies are employed in different ways depending on the needs of caregivers, access to infrastructure, cultural expectations, and available resources.