Digital Health Literacy: Beyond IT Skills
Ela Klecun
Sign up for access to the world's latest research
checkGet notified about relevant papers
checkSave papers to use in your research
checkJoin the discussion with peers
checkTrack your impact
Abstract
This panel will discuss what digital literacy (or e-Literacy) means in the context of health care work, its importance and how it might be attained. The panel topic is of particular importance for the conference's main theme of improved care through informatics. The discussion is informed by our studies of implementation and use of different information systems (such as e-prescribing, electronic transmission of prescriptions, and electronic health records) in healthcare organisations. Our starting point is the need to move beyond narrowly conceived IT skills and 'key-stroke' training and address a wider set of literacies, incorporating skills, capabilities, understandings and sense making activities. We are interested in how healthcare professionals (HCPs) work mediated by digital technologies and performed by individuals, in cooperation and collaboration with others and within wider institutional and inter-institutional contexts, might be facilitated by different approaches to e-Literacy. We discuss how the process of acquiring and sustaining digital health literacy can be conceptualised and facilitated. We ask questions such as what are the implications of these conceptualisations of digital health literacy for HCPs education, for training and for other activities during information system implementation and adoption? We also ask how can digital health literacy be sustained as a competency of the organisation as well as the individual?
Related papers
Digital Literacy for Health
International Journal of Digital Literacy and Digital Competence, 2010
This paper outlines and challenges expectations and promises regarding the potential of the internet and Web 2.0 for empowering patients and citizens. It focuses on literacies required to make a meaningful (to the individual) use of these technologies for health and health care related purposes. The author briefly discusses how these should be taught and concludes that these literacies, including digital literacy and health literacy, are complex and challenging to many while the empowering claims are over-stated. Traditional sources of information and advice will remain essential to maintaining quality of health care.
The emerging need to integrate digital health literacy as a course into health-related and care-related profession curricula
Front. Public Health, 2025
Boshnjaku A, Krasniqi E and Kamberi F () The emerging need to integrate digital health literacy as a course into health-related and care-related profession curricula.
Digital competences in the curriculum of postgraduate studies of health professionals
Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality, 2017
The libraries specialized in health sciences, located in hospitals and health centers, are defined within the fields of biomedicine, nursing and physiotherapy. They are called hospital libraries and its mission is directed to users who need information for clinical practice, teaching and research. Recently, the concept of information literacy has been added to the professional practices of the librarians working at hospital libraries, although traditionally health librarians have devoted most of their professional work to teaching users in different techniques of search, retrieval and information management. The demands made by professionals have expanded these functions at the beginning of the 21st century, adding media skills and literacy in the new digital ecosystem. New literacies go beyond the understanding and management of technology and encompass learning, critical thinking, and information literacy skills. This information literacy empowers individuals and communities. The objective is to evaluate the training program based on the achievements and levels of acceptance and satisfaction of the professionals who participated. The training activity has been designed for professionals in the Health Management Area "Este de Málaga-Axarquía" (AGSEMA), both in the Hospital com in Health centers. This training activity has been accredited by the Health Quality Agency of Andalusia. Using the training platform of the AGSEMA, the quality evaluation platform of the Andalusian Health Quality Agency (eValua), the teaching materials were housed on a "Moodle" platform and communicative and management tools from the web 2.0 were used. At the time of writing this informs, a total of 116 professionals have received the training and 176 professionals have requested it. Information professionals have shown a special interest in knowing and acquiring the competencies that society demands from health professionals in the 21st century: capacities to seek pertinent, relevant and truthful information, generate knowledge and disseminate information to multiple audiences in the Society-Network. CCS Concepts • Social and professional topics~Information technology education • Social and professional topics~Computing education programs • Social and professional topics~Informal education • Social and professional topics~Adult education • Social and professional topics~Seniors.
Digital skills in healthcare practice
The healthcare industry is rapidly evolving in tandem with a demand for increased flexibility in the delivery of education in our fast-paced society. As a result, the passive reception of content by students, delivered by an expert from the front of the class, is becoming increasingly redundant. Students are now being taught, ubiquitous connectivity allowing widespread access to online materials (Collier, Gray, & Ahn, 2011). Programs such as nursing are often offered in an external, online delivery mode (Wright, 2013). Due to an increasingly aging population, healthcare is by far one of the fastest-growing industries, and graduate job seekers choosing to enter healthcare, will need to ensure they have developed sound digital literacies, particularly as they apply to professional communication. It is imperative that students develop and leverage emerging communication technologies as part of their portfolio prior to seeking employment (Clark, 2009; Hargittai & Litt, 2013).
Digital literacy level and associated factors among health professionals in a referral and teaching hospital: An implication for future digital health systems implementation
Frontiers in Public Health
BackgroundIn Ethiopia and other developing countries, electronic medical record systems and other health information technology are being introduced. However, a small proportion of low-income countries have successfully implemented national health information systems. One cause for this can be the lack of digital literacy among medical practitioners. As a result, this study aimed to assess health professionals’ digital literacy level and associated factors in Northwest Ethiopia.MethodA quantitative cross-sectional study was employed among 423 health professionals working in a teaching and referral hospital in Northwest Ethiopia. We modified and applied the European commission’s framework for digital competency to assess the level of digital literacy among health professionals. We used stratified random sampling with proportional allocation to the size of the departments in the hospital to select study participants. Data were collected using a semi-structured, self-administered, and ...
The Digital Divide in Healthcare: A Socio-Cultural Perspective of Digital Literacy
Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2022
As the use of IT for health management increases, threats to exacerbate existing health inequalities increases. Through semi-structured expert interviews, this qualitative study aims to examine the Socio-Cultural characteristics associated with access to and use of technologies for health managing purposes and its relationship with health literacy. Inspired by Bourdieu, the paper uses a socio-cultural perspective to understand the choices and lifestyle of individuals, based on the underlying human mechanisms that may function as determinants of the (in)equality which digitalization of health services may entail. The study focuses on the following question: How do social factors create and reproduce (in)equality in behavioral skills, regarding digital health technologies? The study contributes with a multidimensional perspective on social factors that influences the use and acceptance of digital health technologies from the expert's perspectives.
Harnessing the digital potential of the next generation of health professionals
Human Resources for Health, 2021
Digital technologies are rapidly being integrated into a wide range of health fields. This new domain, often termed 'digital health' , has the potential to significantly improve healthcare outcomes and global health equity more broadly. However, its effective implementation and responsible use are contingent on building a health workforce with a sufficient level of knowledge and skills to effectively navigate the digital transformations in health. More specifically, the next generation of health professionals-namely youth-must be adequately prepared to maximise the potential of these digital transformations. In this commentary, we highlight three priority areas which should be prioritised in digital education to realise the benefits of digital health: capacity building, opportunities for youth, and an ethics-driven approach. Firstly, capacity building requires educational frameworks and curricula to not only be updated, but to also place an emphasis on interdisciplinary learning. Secondly, opportunities are important for youth to meaningfully participate in decision-making processes and gain invaluable practical experiences. Thirdly, training in digital ethics and the responsible use of data as a standard component of education will help to safeguard against potential future inequities resulting from the implementation and use of digital health technologies.
The digital competences in the curriculum of postgraduate studies of the professionals of health. The role of the librarian as a trainer in formative programmes
The libraries specialized in health sciences, located in hospitals and health centers, are defined within the fields of biomedicine, nursing and physiotherapy. They are called hospital libraries and its mission is directed to users who need information for clinical practice, teaching and research. Recently, the concept of information literacy has been added to the professional practices of the librarians working at hospital libraries, although traditionally health librarians have devoted most of their professional work to teaching users in different techniques of search, retrieval and information management. The demands made by professionals have expanded these functions at the beginning of the 21st century, adding media skills and literacy in the new digital ecosystem. New literacies go beyond the understanding and management of technology and encompass learning, critical thinking, and information literacy skills. This information literacy empowers individuals and communities. The objective is to evaluate the training program based on the achievements and levels of acceptance and satisfaction of the professionals who participated.
Health Systems and Adult Basic Education: A Critical Partnership in Supporting Digital Health Literacy
HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice, 2019
Theory of Change: A Tool for Engaging the Health and Care Workforce in Developing Digital Skills
Studies in Health Technology and Informatics
The health and social care sector has experienced an optimistic turn in the last decade. There has been substantial growth in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic that forced the entire sector to identify digital methods of delivering a better level of care than before the pandemic. This paper used the Theory to Change (ToC) approach to demonstrate how the digital skills development of the health and care workforce can be achieved in specific contexts. The paper offers background on digital technologies used in healthcare and outlines the steps and methods used in developing a ToC map. The impact of the proposed ToC approach provides a measurable and predictable way to onboard the health and social care workforce into digital technologies, providing a more digitally skilled and literate workforce.
Related topics
Related papers
Addressing health literacy in the digital domain: insights from a literature review
Kybernetes, 2021
PurposePromoting health literacy, i.e. the ability to access, collect, understand and use health-related information, is high on the health policy agenda across the world. The digitization of health-care calls for a reframing of health literacy in the cyber-physical environment. The article systematizes current scientific knowledge about digital health literacy and investigates the role of health-care organizations in delivering health literate health-care services in a digital environment.Design/methodology/approachA literature review was accomplished. A targeted query to collect relevant scientific contributions was run on PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science. A narrative approach was undertaken to summarize the study findings and to envision avenues for further development in the field of digital health literacy.FindingsDigital health literacy has peculiar attributes as compared with health literacy. Patients may suffer from a lack of human touch when they access health services in ...
Digital Health Literacy
International Journal of Mobile Devices, Wearable Technology, and Flexible Electronics
The pandemic has shown the importance of health organizations adapting rapidly to teleconsultation services, investing in e-health with quality criteria and monitoring outcomes. Through a literature review and gathering research already carried out on e-health communication and with practical examples it is verified that, if the requirements of proximity, quality and interpersonal relationship are met, better health results can be obtained. When communication is established in health via mobile phone, with image, sound, voice, text, it is thus possible to work the memory and health instructions of patients and obtain better health outcomes. These strategies must be personalized and adapted to the patient's age and context.
The e-health literacy framework: A conceptual framework for characterizing e-health users and their interaction with e-health systems
Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal
In current e-health research and development there is a need for a broader understanding of the capabilities and resources required for individuals to use and benefit from e-health services, i.e. their e-health literacy. The aim of this study was to develop a new conceptualisation of e-health literacy with consideration of the experiences of a wide range of stakeholders and in alignment with current technologies. Concept mapping was used to generate a comprehensive and grounded model of e-health literacy. Concept mapping workshop participants included patients, health professionals and medical informatics experts. Eight workshops, carried out in Denmark and United Kingdom, generated 450 statements, separated into 128 clusters. Through an inductive structured analysis, seven domains were identified: 1. Ability to process information, 2. Engagement in own health, 3. Ability to engage actively with digital services, 4. Feeling safe and in control, 5. Motivation to engage with digital s...
Digital Literacy in Post-certification Healthcare Education
Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 2016
Digitally mediated contexts are proliferating across all professional disciplines and also transverse social cultures in higher education worldwide. Malta is no exception. Financial pressures, keeping up with international advances, maintaining standards and changing patterns of lifelong learning are driving the education institutions to adopt online modes of communication, interaction and education. As expected, these changes can also be evidenced in the healthcare education sector. This inevitably brings with it a drive towards innovative modalities of interaction, carrying out research and in the pedagogy of teaching and learning. More importantly it necessitates an institutional shift towards prioritising the development of digital literacy among higher education students and academics alike. This does come with challenges – financial and logistical – but significant in the case of post-certification students is the varying degrees of digital literacy competences, combined with ...
Designing eLearning courses to meet the digital literacy needs of healthcare workers in lower- and middle-income countries: Experiences from the knowledge for health project
Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal, 2015
Traditional conceptualizations of knowledge management fail to incorporate the social aspects in which knowledge management work operates. Social knowledge management places people at the center of all knowledge management, including placing the end user at the center when developing eLearning packages, particularly within the context of digital health literacy. As many health professionals working in lower-resource settings face the digital divide, or experience unequal patterns of access and usage capabilities from computer-based information and communication technologies (ICTs), ensuring that eLearning packages are tailored for their specific needs is critical. Grounded in our conceptualization of social knowledge management, we outline two of our experiences with developing eLearning packages for health professionals working primarily in lower- and middle-income countries. The Global Health eLearning Center provides eLearning courses to health professionals primarily working in ...
Digital habits and competences of health professionals the health area east of Málaga-Axarquía (Málaga)
Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality, 2016
Competences in digital reading and writing -which are included in Information Literacy -are essential to fully participate in the society of knowledge and face new schemes and approaches in educational processes, so as to be able to face the challenges of a globalsocietywhichismoreandmoretechnologically demanding. Training platforms and research, as well as the emergence of digital media and devices that give access to the Internet and allow the management, generation and dissemination of information, are producing changes in the reading and writing habits up to a point that we find ourselves in a new intervention paradigm where translation to digital is unavoidable and irrevocable. We are interested in knowing the changes that are taking place and how is the transition to the consumption and use of digital information occurring among users of health-sciences libraries, since such libraries are pioneer providers of access to digital media for information users. To gain insight into the reading, writing and information management practices of health professionals in the East of Malaga Health Area. We used a mixed research methodology approach by using qualitative and quantitative research techniques in different stages. It included a thorough study of the state-of-the-art scientific knowledge on digital reading and writing, Computer/Digital Literacy, virtual platforms for Training Management, Ecosystem of Electronic Books, Personal Learning Environments and Management of Knowledge. We will gather information on professionals regarding their performance in their professional and personal roles by using a specifically designed questionnaire. The population sample consisted of 1300 staff members working in all of the involved job categories. As a result, we expect to be able to establish a diagnosis of the current situation, which allows to design an action plan aimed at enhancing digital literacy specifically in healthcare professionals.
The Widening Gap between the Digital Capability of the Care Workforce and Technology-Enabled Healthcare Delivery: A Nursing and Allied Health Analysis
Healthcare
There is a need to ensure that healthcare organisations enable their workforces to use digital methods in service delivery. This study aimed to evaluate the current level of digital understanding and ability in nursing, midwifery, and allied health workforces and identify some of the training requirements to improve digital literacy in these health professionals. Representatives from eight healthcare organizations in Victoria, Australia participated in focus groups. Three digital frameworks informed the focus group topic guide that sought to examine the barriers and enablers to adopting digital healthcare along with training requirements to improve digital literacy. Twenty-three participants self-rated digital knowledge and skills using Likert scales and attended the focus groups. Mid-range scores were given for digital ability in nursing, midwifery, and allied health professionals. Focus group participants expressed concern over the gap between their organizations’ adoption of digi...
Training in digital competencies for health professionals: systematic mapping (2015-2019)
Profesional De La Informacion, 2021
Digital competencies are one of the main transversal competencies of the XXI century. By means of systematic mapping, international published papers and research on digital skills training were critically evaluated, generating a process that helps us to recognize information about health professionals and the type of educational technology used in training. With this in mind, we employed the systematic mapping method using the WoS and Scopus databases between 2015 and 2019 in English and Spanish, specifically focused on research articles. The five competencies of the European Framework of Digital Competence were used to analyze the articles, and the works were classified according to the educational technology used. Inclusion, exclusion, and quality criteria were applied. Two hundred and forty-eight articles were selected for the study. Most focused on the information literacy dimension (168) and used digital educational technology. In total, 27 papers were concerned with competence...
A CO-DESIGN SOLUTION TO DIGITAL LITERACY IN HEALTH PROVISION
2022
The integration of digitalisation in the National Health Services (NHS) has been hastened by two main drivers: the “wide-ranging and funded programme to upgrade technology and digitally enabled care across the NHS” presented in the NHS Long Term Plan 2019 and the subsequent global pandemic which created a massive need to rapidly shift to new forms of interaction between the population and care givers. Currently the demands of this transformation are being met by the work of Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust Digital Learning Group (comprising also of Digital Horizons and the Digital Futures Program) and People Promise and Plan Committee. This research project is intended to offer a contribution to their work by suggesting four pathways to meet the challenges, opportunities and roadblocks of digitalisation using co-design processes that might help with the uptake, accessibility and upskilling of the digital workforce of Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust.
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.