Inequity in the Access to eHealth and Its Decomposition Case of Poland

Abstract

The aim of this research is to analyze the disparities in the distribution of information and communication technologies and skills across geographically determined population groups and to identify the source of the inequity. Literature showed that the nature of e-Health has the potential to resolve health inequalities. However, its successful implementation depends on such factors as the accessibility of required technologies to all people, the existence of technical infrastructure as well as people having the necessary information and communication skills. Employment of the Theil index allowed us to measure and decompose the national inequality into both: between and within macro-regions differences. Data was collected from Statistics Poland. The results showed the existence of inequity and its drivers. The novelty of this research results from application of the Theil index in the field of eHealth and identification of the barrier in access to e-Health, which can be a basis for improvement in government policy.

Self-Reported eHealth literacy among nursing students in Sweden and Poland: The eNursEd cross-sectional multicentre study

“…In Poland, the "Digital Competence Development Program until 2030" aims at raising the digital competencies of the general population according to individual needs. 15,16 This is an initial step for the development of eHealth initiatives, which were already addressed and promoted by previous plans like The Plan of the Informatisation for e-Health for the years 2010-2015. 17 To achieve these and, as mentioned in the earlier plans pertaining to eHealth, it is imperative to strengthen the knowledge, skills, and competencies related to eHealth in the nursing profession in the education of both existing and future nurses.…”

“…In Poland, the “Digital Competence Development Program until 2030” aims at raising the digital competencies of the general population according to individual needs. 15,16 This is an initial step for the development of eHealth initiatives, which were already addressed and promoted by previous plans like The Plan of the Informatisation for e-Health for the years 2010-2015. 17…”

The eHealth usage during COVID-19 pandemic 2020 year–Case of Poland

“…Therefore, it is important to reduce these disparities and avoid further disadvantages [20] especially as equity is one of the important values of the healthcare systems [21]. Equity in health has widely been defined as "the absence of socially unjust or unfair health disparities".…”

“…Inequity applies to such differences in health that are unnecessary, unfair, and unjust and could be avoided [2], while everyone should have fair opportunity to achieve their full health potential regardless of social, demographic, economic, or geographic status [23]. Thus the rapid increase in the use of eHealth, justifies a renewed focus on health equity [15,21,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31].…”

“…For this reason, it is essential to know the socio-economic characteristics of patients and potential patients who are not aware or not able to use eHealth and what barriers these patients face [32]. The usage of eHealth in different countries differs by socio-economic factors [33][34][35][36][37][38][39] and such differences in eHealth usage can be observed in Poland [3,21,[40][41][42][43][44][45].…”