Health Information Literacy among the Rural Women: a study of Kurukshetra District of Haryana

Abstract

The present study investigates the health information literacy among rural women of Kurukshetra district of Haryana. The main objectives of the study were to identify the health information needs, the information sources that rural women explore to meet their health information needs, their awareness level regarding the health support programs and the barriers in accessing the health information. Multistage sampling method has been used to collect the data using self-structured questionnaire along one-to-one interview. Total 150 questionnaires were distributed among women of 18 years and above.Total 121 were found valid for analysis. Findings of the study reveal that rural women have various health needs. However role of Public Libraries, Gram Panchayat Offices and NGOs is not satisfactory in disseminating health information.‘Lack of time’ and ‘No proper guidance & counselling’ were the main challenge in accessing health related information among the rural women.