Version 1
: Received: 23 January 2024 / Approved: 23 January 2024 / Online: 24 January 2024 (09:45:44 CET)
How to cite:
Roberts, R.; Paul, C.; Alonge, A.; Gutteridge, C.; Bain, H.; Papadaki, A. Online Information Provision on Meals on Wheels: A Review of Local Authority Websites in the United Kingdom. Preprints2024, 2024011714. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202401.1714.v1
Roberts, R.; Paul, C.; Alonge, A.; Gutteridge, C.; Bain, H.; Papadaki, A. Online Information Provision on Meals on Wheels: A Review of Local Authority Websites in the United Kingdom. Preprints 2024, 2024011714. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202401.1714.v1
Roberts, R.; Paul, C.; Alonge, A.; Gutteridge, C.; Bain, H.; Papadaki, A. Online Information Provision on Meals on Wheels: A Review of Local Authority Websites in the United Kingdom. Preprints2024, 2024011714. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202401.1714.v1
APA Style
Roberts, R., Paul, C., Alonge, A., Gutteridge, C., Bain, H., & Papadaki, A. (2024). Online Information Provision on Meals on Wheels: A Review of Local Authority Websites in the United Kingdom. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202401.1714.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Roberts, R., Holly Bain and Angeliki Papadaki. 2024 "Online Information Provision on Meals on Wheels: A Review of Local Authority Websites in the United Kingdom" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202401.1714.v1
Abstract
Meals on Wheels (MoWs) are critical in enabling adults with care and support needs to live independently. However, many individuals are unaware that the service exists. The aim of this study was to review the websites of local authorities in the UK, and those of 3rd-party providers they signpost to, to establish the quality of online information available on MoWs services, and the websites’ overall quality. Two data capture forms were used to extract information from local authority and 3rd-party providers, consisting of 35 items across five domains, and 36 items across five domains, respectively. Items were awarded a score based on whether certain criteria were met or not, resulting in a maximum total score of 50 and 43 points for each local authority, and 3rd-party provider, website, respectively. A total of 271 websites (223 local authority and 48 3rd-party provider) were reviewed. The mean total score was 14.9 (SD 10.6, range: 1-40 points) for local authority websites, and 21.4 (SD 5.3, range: 10-35 points) for 3rd-party provider websites. For all websites combined, online provision of MoWs information was generally poor, with the vast majority of websites (69.4%, n=188) assessed as requiring improvement, whereas only 4.4% of websites (n=12) were assessed as very good. These findings suggest that local authorities and 3rd-party providers in the UK should seek to improve their online information provision on MoWs to enhance awareness of the service, and ensure that potential service users, and individuals who refer them to the service, can access high-quality information on MoWs.
Keywords
community meals; e-government; home-delivered meals; local authority websites; Meals on Wheels
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Health Policy and Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.