Understanding Health Information Needs and Behaviors in the Context of Childhood Cancer and COVID-19

Access to accurate health information is central to individuals' well-being and quality of life as it enables them to make informed decisions about their health. More research on health information is needed in childhood cancer and the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) to address the challenges encountered in these contexts. Although the two conditions differ, both can significantly impact the quality of life of those indirectly affected. The current cumulative thesis consists of three independent studies about different health information aspects related to childhood cancer and COVID-19. The first paper examined the self-reported information needs, perceived barriers, facilitators, and preferences about information acquisition of relatives of childhood cancer patients and survivors. The second paper explored the role of health literacy and COVID-19 information-seeking in caregivers' decision-making about COVID-19 vaccination of young childhood cancer survivors. The third paper investigated COVID-19-related information-seeking behavior in Switzerland, focusing on how individuals seek information and the determinants of their information-seeking behavior at an early stage of the pandemic. All three studies provided new insights in their respective fields and the main findings were discussed in a broader context.