Application Research Of Diffusion Of Lnnovations Theory In Developing The Reproductive Health Website In Rural Yunnan

With the advent of the Internet era, the Internet has gradually become a new and important channel of health education. To explore the feasibility of the web-based communication in rural Yunnan, the project "Using the Internet to improve the Reproductive Health in rural Yunnan " was co-conducted by the school of Public Health, University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Institute of Health Science (IHS), Kunming Medical college. The Diffusion of Innovations Theory was adopted in this study, to examine influencing factors of the reproductive health website utilization. 56 subjects were from providers working in four reproductive health related departments in Nanhua and Mouding County in Chuxiong prefecture. The results include: l.The website use frequency is fairly high. 2.Most of subjects have a good evaluation for attributes of the website. 3.The perceived relative advantage, compatibility and simplicity of using the website positively correlate with the website utilization. 4.The perceived relative advantages and simplicity are determinant factors to the website utilization. 5.There is a significant positive correlation between the subjects' computer and /Internet literacy and the perceived relative advantages. 6. There is a significant negative correlation between the level of institution for which subjects work and the perceived simplicity and observability. This study shows that diffusion of innovation theory can provide a useful perspective and feasible analysis framework in developing Internet, especial the website.