Preparedness for eHealth: Health Sciences Students’ Knowledge, Skills, and Confidence

Abstract

There is increasing recognition of the role eHealth will play in the effective and efficient delivery of healthcare. This research challenges the assumption that students enter university as digital natives, able to confidently and competently adapt their use of information and communication technology (ICT) to new contexts. This study explored health sciences students' preparedness for working, and leading change, in eHealth-enabled environments. Using a cross-sectional study design, 420 undergraduate and postgraduate students participated in an online survey investigating their understanding of and attitude towards eHealth, frequency of online activities and software usage, confidence learning and using ICTs, and perceived learning needs. Although students reported that they regularly engaged with a wide range of online activities and software and were confident learning new ICT skills especially where they have sufficient time or support, their understanding of eHealth was uncertain or limited. Poor understanding of and difficulty translating skills learned in personal contexts to the professional context may impair graduates ability to confidently engage in the eHealth-enabled workplace. These results suggest educators need to scaffold the learning experience to ensure students build on their ICT knowledge to transfer this to their future workplaces.

Teachers’ and students’ perceptions on barriers and facilitators for eHealth education in the curriculum of functional exercise and physical therapy: a focus groups study

“…In line with literature, we found barriers and facilitators on all levels of implementation as described by Grol and Wensing (2014) [18]. The barriers to the uptake of the eHealth innovation found in our study are in line with previous research: limited skills and knowledge about the eHealth intervention in both teachers and students [5, 8, 11, 12, 14], limited confidence in working with technology in health practice [6, 8, 12] and critically appraising and applying technique [5]. Lam (2016) mentioned: ‘while students demonstrated the technical skills that would potentially enable them to engage in eHealth, they displayed a lack of understanding how these skills could be applied to professional health contexts’ [8].…”

“…financial arrangements, regulations, policies). By including questions according to each level of the framework the research team aimed to contribute to the need for more in-depth knowledge of factors (barriers and facilitators) that may critically influence the uptake of eHealth in education [8].…”

“…Students should be actively taught how to find, understand, apply and appraise eHealth innovations [5] to constantly update their skills and knowledge [2, 6, 7]. Ideally, students should become early adaptors and lead eHealth initiatives in settings where eHealth adoption is still low [8].…”

“…There are several gaps in the knowledge of uptake of eHealth education in the curriculum. First, research about eHealth education predominantly comes from the medical and nursing literature [8]. However, the paramedical education for physical and functional exercise therapy, should also equip students to confidently use of eHealth, especially because eHealth innovations are increasingly used in daily practices of the physical and exercise therapist (e.g.…”

An eHealth Capabilities Framework for Graduates and Health Professionals: Mixed-Methods Study

“…Research into, and the development of, coordinated approaches to eHealth curriculum design and implementation are necessary to effectively integrate eHealth capabilities among health graduates and to support the health care workforce in using eHealth technologies [ 3 ]. Consequently, specific eHealth education is required, even if students report to be competent and confident in using technology [ 11 ]. Such skills must not to be equated with technology proficiency, and most certainly not with information fluency [ 12 ].…”