Impact of Health Literacy on Senior Citizen Engagement in Health Care IT Usage

Abstract

Objective: Patient engagement in health care information technology (IT) is required for government reimbursement programs. This research surveyed one older adult group to determine their willingness to use health information from a variety of sources. Health literacy was also measured using the Newest Vital Sign (NVS) and eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) tools. Method: Regression models determined engagement in health care IT usage and impact of literacy levels based on survey data collected from the group. Results: Although most participants have adequate literacy, they are not more likely to use health care IT than those with limited literacy scores. Knowledge of how to use the Internet to answer questions about health was statistically associated with IT usage. Discussion: Health care IT usage is important for healthy aging. The ability of older adults to understand information provided to them can impact population health including medication usage and other important factors.

Relationship Between Levels of Digital Health Literacy Based on the Taiwan Digital Health Literacy Assessment and Accurate Assessment of Online Health Information: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study

“…However, only five studies used the eHEALS as a measure to explore the issues related to online health information searching. The Newest Vital Sign (Pfizer Inc) screening tool has been used in several studies as a performance test to assess the ability to make accurate judgments about online health information [ 12 , 17 , 35 ]. This tool is based on a nutrition label composed of six questions and requires 3 minutes to complete [ 36 ].…”

“…Diviani et al [ 16 ] carried out qualitative in-depth interviews and explored experiences of online health information–seeking and judgment of credibility of online health information. Noblin and Rutherford [ 17 ] asked whether participants used a personal health record or other internet-based information system for health care, and whether they were willing to use health care information technology if they did not already do so. These studies, therefore, explored various aspects of online health information–seeking.…”

E-health for active ageing; A systematic review

“…[22], [24], [23], [25], [26], [12], [27], [28], [14], [29], [21], [30] Ethics Ethical considerations of technologies. [31] Gaming Uses computer games, serious games and associated technologies.…”

“…[17], [62], [57], [45], [30] [47], [16], [17], [30] Observational / survey 7 [33], [23], [46], [26], [34], [56], [29] Published Protocol 6 [10], [13], [19], [18], [35], [40] Review article (non-systematic) 6 [15], [53], [22], [50], [49], [38] Review article (systematic) 3 [39], [43], [48] Forty-one studies explicitly described the study population under investigation, with 37 studies focused on older adults alone. Fourteen of these studies specified a specific age range to define older adults with the starting age for this category varying from 55 to 65.…”

Psychometric properties of the Hungarian version of the eHealth Literacy Scale

“…Among all measures, the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) [ 27 ] has been used most extensively. Rooted in Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory and self-efficacy theory [ 32 ], eHEALS is a subjective measure of eHealth literacy, showing little correlation with traditional health literacy [ 25 , 33 , 34 ] or the objective high-level skills of searching and critically evaluating health-related online information. Rather, eHEALS can be viewed as a self-efficacy-related measure of eHealth literacy.…”