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Internet underused as educational resource among older women with chronic diseases
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Women with chronic diseases are not using the internet to its fullest potential to access resources for disease management and self-care, according to research published in the Journal of Women’s Health.
Researchers wrote that the findings provide a focal point on tailoring internet resources to a patient’s specific needs, teaching users the advantages online resources provide and increasing internet availability.
“Research indicates that older patients rely more heavily on their health care providers for information than nonelderly populations, while appearing reluctant to rely solely or heavily on the internet for health information — and may not deem the internet a credible, reliable, or easy-to-navigate resource,” Amanda J. Pettus, MPH, MSW, CHES, of the department of health promotion and behavior at the University of Georgia, and colleagues wrote. “Less internet use among older adults for health information and self-care purposes may reflect a lack of familiarity or comfort with technology in general.”
Pettus and colleagues identified 418 women aged 44 years and older, with at least one chronic disease, from the National Council on Aging Chronic Care Survey. Among those, 65% said they used the internet, 31% were aged 65 years and older and 30% said they had three or chronic diseases. A significantly larger proportion of those women aged 65 years and older reported both multiple chronic conditions and noninternet use. Noninternet users reported needing help learning how to manage their conditions.
Researchers also reported that of the 251 women who said they used the internet, 19.1% were aged 65 years and older. In addition, 70% said they used the internet frequently, nearly half said they read about others’ experiences online and less than 20% participated in online discussions, chatrooms, or listservs.
“Next steps include equipping health care providers with an awareness of the benefits of patients accessing and utilizing web-based resources for health information,” Pettus and colleagues wrote. “Further, ensuring that providers can relay critical guidance on where to look and how to access evidence and web-based resources is a critical step if providers are to effectively facilitate patients’ use of web-based health resources.”
Pettus’ colleague suggested ways primary care providers can implement the study’s findings in their practices.
“Our research suggests an opportunity for primary care providers to ask women with multiple chronic conditions if they need more help or information for managing their conditions and whether they use the internet as a resource,” Carolyn A. Mendez-Luck, PhD, MPH, of the College of Public Health and Human Services, University of Oregon, told Healio Family Medicine. “Perhaps more importantly, our findings support a team-based model of primary care or patient-centered medical home for these kinds of patients where a multidisciplinary team helps patients monitor their own chronic conditions, especially if patients don’t seek their information from the internet.” – by Janel Miller
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.