Research On Media Exposure And Use Of Rural Elderly Groups From The Perspective Of Health Communication

In the report of the 19 th Party Congress,it is pointed out that "people’s health is an important symbol of national prosperity and national wealth and strength",which also fully indicates that China has incorporated the level of national health into the national development strategy.In recent years,from the introduction of "people’s health strategic status" to the "Health China 2030 Planning Outline",the "13th Five-Year Plan" and the "14th Five-Year Plan",the "Healthy Older People’s Health Plan" and the "13th Five-Year Plan",the "Healthy Older People’s Health Plan" have been developed.The release and introduction of the "14th Five-Year Plan for Healthy Aging",a series of initiatives have demonstrated the great importance that the Party and the State attach to national health issues.According to the seventh national census data,China’s elderly population aged 60 and above is 264 million,accounting for 18.7% of the total population,an increase of 5.44 percentage points compared with 2010,further deepening the degree of population aging.The proportion of people aged 60 and 65 and above in rural areas is 23.81% and17.72% respectively,which is 7.99 and 6.61 percentage points higher than that in urban areas.Therefore,the health of the rural elderly population cannot be ignored and should be an important issue of current national concern.This study conducted a field survey based on the health information exposure and use of the elderly group in village Z.Using questionnaires and in-depth interviews,152 elderly people in village Z were surveyed by questionnaires and 40 villagers were interviewed in depth,and the survey data were analyzed by SPSS 26.0 software to investigate the health needs of the elderly in village Z,the sources of health information,the effects and characteristics of health information use and the problems in health communication in rural areas.The results of the study showed that the five main categories of health information that rural elderly people are concerned about and need are healthy life-related information,disease-related information,drug-related information,health insurance-related needs and health knowledge science.The information sources they contacted and used mainly included traditional media,interpersonal relationships,the Internet and professional institutions,among which the village doctor was the most trusted information source.The study found that the following characteristics existed in the exposure and use of health information among the elderly in village Z: first,socialization among acquaintances occupied an important position in health information dissemination;second,information exposure was easily influenced by health-related advertisements;third,smartphones gradually became an emerging force for the elderly to obtain health information;fourth,the contrast between active access and passive exposure to health information was obvious.In addition,there are problems in the process of health communication among the elderly in Z village,such as single channel of health information acquisition,homogenization and academicization of the content of health information exposure,etc.This study takes into account the current reality and puts forward suggestions and countermeasures in terms of communication channels and content.