scholarly journals The Final Mile: Evaluating eHealth and mHealth Utilization Among Older Adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 259-259
Author(s):  
Mary Krebs

Abstract While health endures as a term to describe looking after oneself, looking after loved ones, and receiving care, the added component of electronic technology has emerged to affect all levels of health care delivery. Despite the prevalence of digital health and empirical evidence strongly supporting improved outcomes--the final mile--as it is sometimes called, is the sustained patient engagement with eHealth and mHealth we have yet to achieve. This research identifies a gap in the literature for understudied characteristics of digital health adoption, use affecting the aging population in the U.S., and contributes a deeper understanding of the key barriers to use of health-related technology. A mixed-methods research approach explores prevalent barriers to digital health utilization by older adults through a pre-post data collection strategy to empirically test an educational health-related intervention rooted in the Technology Acceptance Model. This validated analytic framework represents a decision ‘core’ as a user pathway for actual use. Evaluation of score data utilized a quantitative test of group means while thematic coding was employed for qualitative analysis. The results from this study are two-fold. The work strongly suggests specific barriers to adoption and use, confirming a distrust and reluctance to engage. However, additional evidence, both quantitative and qualitative illuminates substantive skills, positive perceptions, hopeful attitudes, as well as the rationale for use of available digital resources. Findings suggest future research would benefit from expanded use of the two-pronged approach to foster health-related technology engagement.

2020 ◽  
pp. 2058-2081
Author(s):  
Bwalya Kelvin Joseph ◽  
Tanya Du Plessis

This study investigates whether e-Government consumers (citizens and businesses) in selected towns in Zambia are aware of the anticipated benefits of e-Government. Awareness translates into recognition of the perceived benefits and may influence adoption as posited in Davis' 1989 technology acceptance model. Using the mixed methods research approach, an investigation follows of consumers' awareness, or lack of awareness, of e-Government benefits in three Zambian towns. To date, no significant empirical study has been done investigating e-Government penetration in Zambia evidenced by consumers' awareness. This article contributes to the current debate on e-Government in Sub-Saharan Africa by means of regression modeling which shows that apart from the traditional factors, namely 'perceived ease of use' and 'perceived usefulness' that influence adoption, the Zambian context also presents additional factors that influence adoption such as culture, cost, trust, and other social dimensions or beliefs.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bwalya Kelvin Joseph ◽  
Tanya du Plessis

This study investigates whether e-Government consumers (citizens and businesses) in selected towns in Zambia are aware of the anticipated benefits of e-Government. Awareness translates into recognition of the perceived benefits and may influence adoption as posited in Davis' 1989 technology acceptance model. Using the mixed methods research approach, an investigation follows of consumers' awareness, or lack of awareness, of e-Government benefits in three Zambian towns. To date, no significant empirical study has been done investigating e-Government penetration in Zambia evidenced by consumers' awareness. This article contributes to the current debate on e-Government in Sub-Saharan Africa by means of regression modeling which shows that apart from the traditional factors, namely 'perceived ease of use' and 'perceived usefulness' that influence adoption, the Zambian context also presents additional factors that influence adoption such as culture, cost, trust, and other social dimensions or beliefs.


Author(s):  
Chanbeom Kwak ◽  
Saea Kim ◽  
Sunghwa You ◽  
Woojae Han

The present study aimed to develop a healthcare application for the elderly who suspect or know they have a hearing loss, namely, the Hearing Rehabilitation for Older Adults (HeRO), which is available in a mobile device, and then to confirm its probability of acceptance among elderly users. Under a web server system, HeRO which had four types of tailored training for the aged auditory system (i.e., syllable, sentence, discourse, working memory) and a self-reported questionnaire to screen amount of the hearing loss was completed for the elderly. To verify whether the HeRO contents and functions were user-friendly to the elderly users, the technology acceptance model (TAM) was used. Forty-four older adults were asked to use the developed application for 10 days and then respond to a TAM questionnaire with 25 items. The Cronbach’s α coefficient of each subcategory was very high. The construct validity of all subcategories showed high eigenvalues using principal component analysis. Furthermore, our regression model statistically supported a persuasive intention to use the healthcare application because the elderly readily accept it and find it easy to manipulate. We expect the current technology to be applied to the general public as well as the elderly who want to explore digital health.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Maurita T. Harris ◽  
Wendy A. Rogers

Abstract Older adults with a chronic health condition (e.g. hypertension) use various self-management methods. Healthcare technologies have the potential to support health self-management. However, it is necessary to understand the acceptance of these technologies as a precursor to older adults’ adoption and integration into their health plan. Our focus was on the factors older adults with hypertension initially consider when introduced to three new healthcare technologies that might support their health self-management. We compared their considerations for a blood pressure monitor, an electronic pillbox and a multifunction robot to simulate incrementally more complex technologies. Twenty-three participants (aged 65–84) completed four questionnaires and a semi-structured interview. The interview transcripts were analysed using a thematic analysis approach. We identified the factors that were frequently mentioned among the participants for each of the three healthcare technologies. The factors that older adults initially considered were familiarity, perceived benefits, perceived ease of use, perceived need for oneself, relative advantage, complexity and perceived need for others. Upon further reflection, participants considered advice acceptance, compatibility, convenience, facilitating conditions, perceived usefulness, privacy, subjective norm, and trust. We integrated the factors that older adults considered into the Healthcare Technology Acceptance Model (H-TAM), which elucidates the complexity of healthcare technology acceptance and provides guidance for future explorations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 233372142098568
Author(s):  
Annie T. Chen ◽  
Frances Chu ◽  
Andrew K. Teng ◽  
Soojeong Han ◽  
Shih-Yin Lin ◽  
...  

Background: There is a need for interventions to promote health management of older adults with pre-frailty and frailty. Technology poses promising solutions, but questions exist about effective delivery. Objectives: We present the results of a mixed-methods pilot evaluation of Virtual Online Communities for Older Adults (VOCALE), an 8-week intervention conducted in the northwestern United States, in which participants shared health-related experiences and applied problem solving skills in a Facebook group. Methods: We performed a mixed-methods process evaluation, integrating quantitative and qualitative data, to characterize the intervention and its effects. We focus on four areas: health-related measures (health literacy and self-efficacy), participation, problem solving skills enacted, and subjective feedback. Results: Eight older adults with pre-frailty and frailty (age = 82.7 ± 6.6 years) completed the study. There was an upward trend in health literacy and health self-efficacy post-intervention. Participants posted at least two times per week. Content analysis of 210 posts showed participants were able to apply the problem solving skills taught, and exit interviews showed participants’ increased awareness of the need to manage health, and enjoyment in learning about others. Conclusion: This mixed-methods evaluation provides insight into feasibility and design considerations for online interventions to promote health management among vulnerable older adults.


2020 ◽  
pp. 152483802096734
Author(s):  
Mengtong Chen ◽  
Ko Ling Chan

Digital technologies are increasingly used in health-care delivery and are being introduced into work to prevent unintentional injury, violence, and suicide to reduce mortality. To understand the potential of digital health interventions (DHIs) to prevent and reduce these problems, we conduct a meta-analysis and provide an overview of their effectiveness and characteristics related to the effects. We searched electronic databases and reference lists of relevant reviews to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in or before March 2020 evaluating DHIs on injury, violence, or suicide reduction. Based on the 34 RCT studies included in the meta-analysis, the overall random effect size was 0.21, and the effect sizes for reducing suicidal ideation, interpersonal violence, and unintentional injury were 0.17, 0.24, and 0.31, respectively, which can be regarded as comparable to the effect sizes of traditional face-to-face interventions. However, there was considerable heterogeneity between the studies. In conclusion, DHIs have great potential to reduce unintentional injury, violence, and suicide. Future research should explore DHIs’ successful components to facilitate future implementation and wider access.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hart O. Awa ◽  
Ojiabo Ukoha Ojiabo ◽  
Bartholomew Chinweuba Emecheta

Purpose – This paper aims to propose a framework that integrated the technology acceptance model (TAM), theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and technology-organization-environment (TOE) and extended the constructs to enrich literature and capture some peculiarities of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs). Individually, the frameworks of extant TAM, TPB and TOE are insightful to the understanding of e-commerce adoption but a bit parochial in their constructs and so, can rarely provide clear lenses to deal with SMEs. Design/methodology/approach – The adoption of e-commerce depends largely on the users’ conscious assessment of the influencing constructs as proposed, among others, in theories of reasoned action, TAM, TPB and TOE. This paper reviewed, synthesized and extended the constructs of these models in an integrated framework. The proposed integrated framework led to 18 propositions to promote and facilitate future research, and to guide explanation and prediction of e-commerce adoption in an organized system. Findings – The introduced constructs in the integrated framework (e.g. company mission, individual difference factors, perceived trust and perceived service quality) introduce socio-technical systems and improve the theoretical base of adoption. Research limitations/implications – Neither the adoption drivers nor the constructs in the theoretical framework are mutually exclusive and exhaustive; rather, they are complementary and could incorporate other factors. Although the theoretical implications of the findings of this paper extend the scope of adoption drivers, the proposed framework needs to be tested empirically. Originality/value – The integrated and extended theoretical framework links three adoption drivers and attempts to improve existing knowledge on e-commerce adoption and to provide bases for more informed decision(s).


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