Assessing the Effects of eHealth Tutorials on Older Adults' eHealth Literacy. (July 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: De Main, Atami S.; Xie, Bo; Shiroma, Kristina; Yeh, Tom; Davis, Nathan; Han, Xu
• Is Part Of: Journal of applied gerontology. Volume 41:Number 7(2022)
• Page Start: 1675
• Page End: 1685
• Publication Date: 2022-07
• Subjects: multimedia tutorial -- eHealth literacy -- older adults -- attitudes; Gerontology -- Periodicals; 362.6
• DOI: 10.1177/07334648221088281
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0733-4648

Abstract

EHealth literacy is the ability to access, assess, and use digital health information. This study compared the effects of a multimedia tutorial versus a paper-based control in improving older adults' eHealth literacy from pre- to posttest. A total of 99 community-dwelling older adults (63–90 years old; mean = 73.09) participated from July 2019 to February 2020. Overall, knowledge about computer/Internet terms, eHealth literacy efficacy, knowledge about the quality of health information websites, and procedural skills in computer/Internet use improved significantly from pre- to posttest. No interaction effect was found between time and group. Participants in both groups had an overwhelmingly positive attitude toward training. Their attitudes toward training approached a statistically significant difference between the two conditions: F (1, 89) = 3.75, p = .056, partial η 2 = .040, with the multimedia condition showing more positive attitudes. These findings have implications for designing effective eHealth literacy interventions for older adults.