Applying the Electronic Health Literacy Lens: Systematic Review of Electronic Health Interventions Targeted at Socially Disadvantaged Groups

Electronic health (eHealth) has the potential to improve health outcomes. However, eHealth systems need to match the eHealth literacy needs of users to be equitably adopted. Socially disadvantaged groups have lower access and skills to use technologies and are at risk of being digitally marginalized...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of medical Internet research Vol. 22; no. 8; p. e18476
Main Authors: Cheng, Christina, Beauchamp, Alison, Elsworth, Gerald R, Osborne, Richard H
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Canada Gunther Eysenbach MD MPH, Associate Professor 13.08.2020
JMIR Publications
Subjects:
Adults
At risk populations
Cognition & reasoning
Disadvantaged
Ethnic groups
Ethnicity
Feasibility studies
Health disparities
Health education
Health literacy
Health Literacy - methods
Health status
Humans
Internet
Internet access
Internet-Based Intervention - trends
Intervention
Literacy
Low income groups
Marginality
Minority groups
Multimedia
Older people
Personal health
Public health
Research Design
Review
Rural areas
Rural communities
Skill development
Socioeconomic factors
Systematic review
Telemedicine
Telemedicine - methods
Usability
User involvement
Vulnerable Populations - statistics & numerical data
health literacy
digital divide
health equity
eHealth
health care
internet
telecommunications
ISSN:1438-8871, 1439-4456, 1438-8871
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Electronic health (eHealth) has the potential to improve health outcomes. However, eHealth systems need to match the eHealth literacy needs of users to be equitably adopted. Socially disadvantaged groups have lower access and skills to use technologies and are at risk of being digitally marginalized, leading to the potential widening of health disparities. This systematic review aims to explore the role of eHealth literacy and user involvement in developing eHealth interventions targeted at socially disadvantaged groups. A systematic search was conducted across 10 databases for eHealth interventions targeted at older adults, ethnic minority groups, low-income groups, low-literacy groups, and rural communities. The eHealth Literacy Framework was used to examine the eHealth literacy components of reviewed interventions. The results were analyzed using narrative synthesis. A total of 51 studies reporting on the results of 48 interventions were evaluated. Most studies were targeted at older adults and ethnic minorities, with only 2 studies focusing on low-literacy groups. eHealth literacy was not considered in the development of any of the studies, and no eHealth literacy assessment was conducted. User involvement in designing interventions was limited, and eHealth intervention developmental frameworks were rarely used. Strategies to assist users in engaging with technical systems were seldom included in the interventions, and accessibility features were limited. The results of the included studies also provided inconclusive evidence on the effectiveness of eHealth interventions. The findings highlight that eHealth literacy is generally overlooked in developing eHealth interventions targeted at socially disadvantaged groups, whereas evidence about the effectiveness of such interventions is limited. To ensure equal access and inclusiveness in the age of eHealth, eHealth literacy of disadvantaged groups needs to be addressed to help avoid a digital divide. This will assist the realization of recent technological advancements and, importantly, improve health equity.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
content type line 14
ObjectType-Feature-3
ObjectType-Evidence Based Healthcare-1
ObjectType-Article-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ObjectType-Undefined-3
ISSN:1438-8871
1439-4456
1438-8871
DOI:10.2196/18476