Digital Health Literacy and Older Adults
February 11, 2019
As the Internet and its numerous applications rapidly expand to most aspects of our daily lives, the health sector and services could not possibly pose an exception. The Internet serves as one of the main sources of health-related information such as healthier lifestyle choices or treatments and diseases. This process empowers the individuals to be active collaborators in their own health and wellbeing.
With the wide variety in the quality of the information, though, with the anonymity allowed to publishers, and with the vast amount of available information, digital health literacy is a cornerstone skill that can either amplify or completely eliminate these promising benefits.
Digital health literacy has been defined as the skill of seeking, locating, understanding and appraising health-related information, through digital media, and of applying the gained knowledge to address or solve health issues.
Digital technology advances provide endless possibilities and great potential in health services that could greatly benefit the older age-groups of the population, yet, often, these groups don’t possess the necessary skills and knowledge to benefit from them or that issues like disabilities, chronic diseases, and handicaps prevent them from doing so.
Improving older adults’ digital health literacy will allow them to benefit from its affordances and help them manage health issues, make informed decisions, and promote their general mental and physical health and wellbeing.
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References
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