A Survey of Smartphone-Based Health Education Needs for Parents

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of smartphones to address parents’ educational needs. Methods: The participants were parents of children under 18 years old, Participants were 347 parents (222 mothers, 125 fathers). Data were collected from August, 15 to September, 2, 2016 using self-report questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test and ANOVA with the SPSS WIN 21.0 program. Results: Parents had an average score of 3.30 (±.41) for the need to have smartphone health education. Among the educational subcategories, ‘child and family’ showed the highest average for educational needs (3.40, ±.57). According to the demographic characteristics of the participants, there were significant difference in parents’ age (t=4.354, p=.014), and parents’ who have received health education versus parents who have not (t=2.483, p=.014). Conclusion: Findings indicate that the smartphone may be an effective educational method for parents.