The Cognitive, Behavioral and Interpersonal Impacts of Virtual Practice with Short Health Videos on Chinese Ageing Women: A Discursive Approach

In the digital era, the health information presented on virtual platforms plays a pivotal role in supporting people’s active and healthy life. The ageing, especially ageing women, are more likely to seek and accept health information through online media platforms. The study shows that short health videos on social media platforms are extremely popular among ageing women in China for the accessing of virtual coaching. Adopting the qualitative methodology of in-depth interview and discourse analysis, the study investigates virtual coaching with short health video practice among 39 Chinese ageing women in different fields, who are all over sixty years old. Specifically, with the analytical tools of transitivity and generic structure analysis, the study explores the impacts of short health videos on Chinese ageing women’s cognition, behavior and interpersonal relationships. The result shows that virtual practice and coaching via short health videos can build health awareness and a dynamic new lifestyle, and motivate women to positively practice physical activity and maintain positive interpersonal relationships. Factors affecting the effectiveness of short health videos are discussed for future research in the field of modeling and intervention.