eHealth Literacy and Capability in the Context of the Pandemic Crisis

Abstract

The rapidly increasing size of the ageing population, and in particular older adults living alone, requires the incorporation of eHealth into social and healthcare services, in order to choose the best way to manage their needs and demands for health and medical care. The purpose of this brief scoping study is to describe and identify an important dimension in this context, namely eHealth literacy (eHL) and its relation to health-promoting behaviours among older adults within the capability theoretical framework. The chapter examines some aspects of eHL and recent research highlighting the importance of eHL and the direct correlation between eHL and quality of life for older adults within the capability context. To make this more specific and explicit, this study takes into consideration outstanding circumstances, such as those caused by a pandemic crisis, namely the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Since the COVID-19 pandemic has required urgent action and rapid containment, it offers a unique opportunity to test and evaluate the readiness of healthcare systems and to rapidly develop, scale up and enhance eHealth for the benefit of older people. However, this comes with a price, which is the necessity to quickly and effectively navigate complex information environments and manage behavioural changes and health.

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“… 34 The intention of the Framework is to empower care home staff without healthcare training to assess and administer care more confidently, and communicate effectively with healthcare professionals—features which would have been hugely beneficial during ‘lockdown’ times. Implementing the EMBED-Care Framework in a post-COVID landscape to a more eHealth literate population, 35 with an understanding from experience of the advantages of working in this way, may in practice be less of a challenge than anticipated.…”

Development Work in Swedish Eldercare: Resources for Trustworthy, Integrated Managerial Work During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…However, using opportunities of capabilities require influence over every-day decisions, abilities and skills, e.g. eHealth literacy ( 7 ). The strengthening of employees ' capabilities addresses their working conditions and the resources needed to conduct their work, such as influence, competence, and health.…”