It’s not just the elderly: digital illiteracy is common and deserves more attention when implementing eHealth (Preprint)
UNSTRUCTURED Imagine what the world would have looked like without Internet? You probably have spent the last year more hours behind the web cam than ever before! Our lives have changed tremendously. The increased use of technology was also seen in healthcare. The use of technology in healthcare is called E-Health. Examples of E-Health are online video consultations between doctors and their patients or monitoring of blood pressure with a Bluetooth device so that information can be sent from patients home to the doctor’s office. Many of these innovations lead to better health outcomes which is fantastic! E-Health possibilities seem to be endless and will play an increasingly important role in our health care system. There is one drawback however, in the Netherlands 2 million people are not capable of using digital technology. This also includes young people. Data from Eurostat shows that approximately 50% of the lower educated 25-54 year old citizens of western European countries lack basic digital skills. This is an important problem because this large group cannot profit from the benefits of E-Health. Eventually this will lead to health disparities of people who can’t use digital technology. The increasing use of E-Health will increase this gap and urgent action is needed. Also younger citizens need support to use eHealth. Policymakers need to find ways to either engage this group in E-Health or find alternative solutions for them so that everyone profit from optimal health care.