For most older adults, low adoption rates for home-based health IT are not necessarily related to lack of technology access, interest, or skill. In 2014 The Pew Research Institute found that 59% of seniors (age 65 and older) report going online as compared to 89% of all adults. Pew also reports that 23% of seniors do not and have not used a cell phone. Wealth and education levels also correlate to higher levels of internet use in seniors. 90% of seniors with a household income of at least $75,000 go online but seniors with a household income of $30,000 or less go online at 39%. The data is similar for education levels. College educated seniors go online at 87% but less educated seniors go online at 40% [9].
However, with older adults as with …show more content…
population ages, low health literacy among elderly people is potentially a barrier to adopting new technology. Nearly half of the people in the elderly population have low reading skills, and reading ability appears to decline with age. A study of patients 60 years and older at a public hospital found that 81 percent could not read and understand basic materials such as prescription labels and appointments [12] Health literacy is increasingly vital to help people navigate a complex health system and better manage their own health. Differences in the ability to read and understand materials related to personal health as well as navigate the health systems and technologies appear to contribute to health disparities. People with low health literacy are more likely to report poor health, have an incomplete understanding of their health problems and treatment, and be at greater risk of hospitalization [13]. People with chronic conditions, such as asthma, hypertension, and diabetes, and low reading skills have been found to have less knowledge of their conditions than people with higher reading skills [14]. Birru & Monaco reported that a low literacy level in adults appears to inhibit health information seeking efforts, with most web sites requiring at least a high school level of reading proficiency [15]. Providing medical services such as home access Electronic Health Records or health monitoring systems to the elderly will be especially challenging and they may not be able to use these services at all. Both the information displayed on the technology itself as well as the technical support manual need to be written at a level that will be understandable and not frustrate the target
However, with older adults as with …show more content…
population ages, low health literacy among elderly people is potentially a barrier to adopting new technology. Nearly half of the people in the elderly population have low reading skills, and reading ability appears to decline with age. A study of patients 60 years and older at a public hospital found that 81 percent could not read and understand basic materials such as prescription labels and appointments [12] Health literacy is increasingly vital to help people navigate a complex health system and better manage their own health. Differences in the ability to read and understand materials related to personal health as well as navigate the health systems and technologies appear to contribute to health disparities. People with low health literacy are more likely to report poor health, have an incomplete understanding of their health problems and treatment, and be at greater risk of hospitalization [13]. People with chronic conditions, such as asthma, hypertension, and diabetes, and low reading skills have been found to have less knowledge of their conditions than people with higher reading skills [14]. Birru & Monaco reported that a low literacy level in adults appears to inhibit health information seeking efforts, with most web sites requiring at least a high school level of reading proficiency [15]. Providing medical services such as home access Electronic Health Records or health monitoring systems to the elderly will be especially challenging and they may not be able to use these services at all. Both the information displayed on the technology itself as well as the technical support manual need to be written at a level that will be understandable and not frustrate the target