This appeared a few days ago.
How low health literacy, technology leave elderly behind
November 13, 2014 | By Katie Dvorak
The Internet is quickly becoming the go-to place for health information, but those who are not well-versed in understanding health matters, and especially those who are elderly, are being left behind, according to a recent study.
The study, led by Helen Levy of the University of Michigan, examines elderly people's knowledge of health matters and how they use the Internet, according to an announcement. The findings are published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
The researchers looked at data from the 2009 and 2010 Health and Retirement Study, a national survey of Americans 65 years and older. That study looked at how the 1,400 participants used the Internet and what they search for, especially related to health and medical information.
Levy's study finds that about 32 percent of older participants who are well versed in health matters use the Internet, while that number is 9.7 percent for people who have low health literacy.
Of the older participants who are Internet users, their health literacy has an impact on whether they use the Web to find medical information. Health literacy, the authors say, has more of an impact on Internet use for medical information than cognitive function.
"Health information technology, like any innovation in healthcare, offers both the promise of significant benefits and the risk that these benefits will not be shared equally," Levy says in the announcement.
Lots more here:
If you believe health literacy and engagement are important to assist with the quality of life and the overall health outcomes achieved then clearly we need to facilitate more connectivity and start to treat the internet as being as basic as the telephone.
It will be interesting to see how these figures trend over time as more and more internet penetration occurs and more of the population have experience with the internet at work and so on.
David.
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