Seniors' eHealth literacy, health and education status and personal health knowledge

Background The COVID-19 pandemic made eHealth literacy skills and online health activities essential for seniors. Research aims (a) To examine the differences in eHealth literacy dimensions (awareness of sources, recognizing quality and meaning, understanding information, perceived efficiency, validating information) as related to participants' health status and education level. (b) To explore the effect of eHealth literacy dimensions on participants' personal health knowledge. Methods We used a cross-sectional design with a convenience sample of 298 Israeli seniors aged 65 or over during the second lockdown. The questionnaire was composed of three sections: (a) background characteristics, (b) an eHealth Literacy scale, and (c) perceived personal health knowledge. Results Participants with an excellent health status reported higher levels of awareness of sources and perceived efficiency than participants with poor or good health statuses. Furthermore, participants with a graduate degree understand online information better than participants with a high school education. Moreover, it was found that participants with a high school education sense that they are being smart on the net more than participants with an undergraduate degree. Finally, we found that eHealth literacy dimensions influenced the participants' personal health knowledge. Conclusion As the population ages, it becomes more at risk for disease, and as a result, its health status weakens. Therefore, it is important to provide seniors with appropriate intervention programs for improving their eHealth literacy, which may eliminate health inequality. In addition, caregivers need to develop patients' eHealth literacy skills-finding, evaluation, and interpretation of online health knowledge relevant to them.

Automated summary

This study examined the relationship between eHealth literacy and health status and education level among seniors. The results showed that participants with excellent health reported higher levels of awareness of sources and perceived efficiency. Additionally, participants with a graduate degree had better understanding of online information. The study also found that eHealth literacy dimensions influenced participants' personal health knowledge.