Page 100 - Petelin, Ana. 2021. Ed. Zdravje starostnikov / Health of the Elderly. Proceedings. Koper: University of Primorska Press.
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avje starostnikov | health of the elderly 98 mainly for specific dimensions of health or whether they improve overall
health status. The paper concludes with a discussion on the importance
of ICT in health services and its importance for positive population
health outcomes, especially for vulnerable groups. We also provide
suggestions for achieving a more well-informed population concerning
the opportunities offered by ICT in health promotion and disease
prevention.
Keywords: health inequalities, eHealth, ICT use for health purposes,
the elderly.
Introduction
The use of information and communication technology (ICT), including the
Internet and smartphone apps, is becoming an important source of informa-
tion related to health. The term electronic health (“E-health or eHealth) refers
to measures to support health care through ICT (Rockmann and Gewald 2015:
505). In modern societies, eHealth services are increasingly becoming patient
and consumer-oriented, enabling consumers to actively engage in their health
and well-being by accessing health resources via the Internet (Rockmann and
Gewald 2015). As early as 2009, for example, 61% of adults in the United States
used the Internet to access information about their illnesses and treatment op-
tions (Fox and Jones, 2009; in Rockmann and Gewald 2015: 510).
An analysis of the use of eHealth solutions in Slovenia (Rant and
Stanimirović 2020) before the COVID-19 pandemic showed that between 2016
and 2019, the use of eHealth services increased. For example, the proportion
of e-prescriptions and e-referrals in 2019 exceeded 90% of the total number of
prescriptions and referrals. The share of e-referrals doubled during the period
under review, from 45% to 94%. The use of the zVEM web portal also increased
during the same period.
Research on the use of ICT shows that many factors influence the search
for health-related information. The frequency of information search varies,
among other things, according to age and gender, but also health status, which
is the main factor of interest in our study.
Besides other factors, it is vital to examine whether the use of ICT for
health purposes is unequally distributed according to users’ health status. From
the point of view of equity in health services, one of the goals is equality of ac-
cess and use of ICT for health purposes (regardless of individual’s character-
istics such as age, gender, socioeconomic status or health). However, evidence
suggests that there are inequalities in access to health care services. For exam-
ple, socially deprived groups have worse health and poorer access to health ser-
vices (Riley 2012; Thomas 2017; Committee on Health Care Utilization and
Adults with Disabilities 2018).
Research on ICT use similarly indicates a link between one’s health and
health-related ICT use. A survey of a sample of Norwegians aged 40 and over
health status. The paper concludes with a discussion on the importance
of ICT in health services and its importance for positive population
health outcomes, especially for vulnerable groups. We also provide
suggestions for achieving a more well-informed population concerning
the opportunities offered by ICT in health promotion and disease
prevention.
Keywords: health inequalities, eHealth, ICT use for health purposes,
the elderly.
Introduction
The use of information and communication technology (ICT), including the
Internet and smartphone apps, is becoming an important source of informa-
tion related to health. The term electronic health (“E-health or eHealth) refers
to measures to support health care through ICT (Rockmann and Gewald 2015:
505). In modern societies, eHealth services are increasingly becoming patient
and consumer-oriented, enabling consumers to actively engage in their health
and well-being by accessing health resources via the Internet (Rockmann and
Gewald 2015). As early as 2009, for example, 61% of adults in the United States
used the Internet to access information about their illnesses and treatment op-
tions (Fox and Jones, 2009; in Rockmann and Gewald 2015: 510).
An analysis of the use of eHealth solutions in Slovenia (Rant and
Stanimirović 2020) before the COVID-19 pandemic showed that between 2016
and 2019, the use of eHealth services increased. For example, the proportion
of e-prescriptions and e-referrals in 2019 exceeded 90% of the total number of
prescriptions and referrals. The share of e-referrals doubled during the period
under review, from 45% to 94%. The use of the zVEM web portal also increased
during the same period.
Research on the use of ICT shows that many factors influence the search
for health-related information. The frequency of information search varies,
among other things, according to age and gender, but also health status, which
is the main factor of interest in our study.
Besides other factors, it is vital to examine whether the use of ICT for
health purposes is unequally distributed according to users’ health status. From
the point of view of equity in health services, one of the goals is equality of ac-
cess and use of ICT for health purposes (regardless of individual’s character-
istics such as age, gender, socioeconomic status or health). However, evidence
suggests that there are inequalities in access to health care services. For exam-
ple, socially deprived groups have worse health and poorer access to health ser-
vices (Riley 2012; Thomas 2017; Committee on Health Care Utilization and
Adults with Disabilities 2018).
Research on ICT use similarly indicates a link between one’s health and
health-related ICT use. A survey of a sample of Norwegians aged 40 and over
