Personal Health Information Management Among Older Adults: Scoping Review.

Malgorzata Kolotylo-Kulkarni,Deborah E Seale,Cynthia M LeRouge

doi:10.2196/25236

Abstract

BackgroundOlder adults face growing health care needs and could potentially benefit from personal health information management (PHIM) and PHIM technology. To ensure effective PHIM and to provide supportive tools, it is crucial to investigate the needs, challenges, processes, and tools used by this subpopulation. The literature on PHIM by older adults, however, remains scattered and has not provided a clear picture of what we know about the elements that play a role in older adults’ PHIM.ObjectiveThe goal of our review was to provide a comprehensive overview of extant knowledge on PHIM by older adults, establish the status quo of research on this topic, and identify research gaps.MethodsWe carried out a scoping review of the literature from 1998 to 2020, which followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) framework. First, we executed a broad and structured search. We then carried out a qualitative analysis of papers pertinent to the topic taking into consideration the five elements of the patient work system as follows: (1) personal-level factors, (2) PHIM tasks, (3) tools used, (4) physical settings of PHIM activities, and (5) socio-organizational aspects.ResultsThe review included 22 studies. Consolidated empirical evidence was related to all elements of the patient work system. Multiple personal factors affected PHIM. Various types of personal health information were managed (clinical, patient-generated, and general) and tools were used (electronic, paper-based, and others). Older adults’ PHIM was intertwined with their surroundings, and various individuals participated. The largest body of evidence concerned personal factors, while findings regarding the physical environment of PHIM were scarce. Most research has thus far examined older adults as a single group, and scant attention has been paid to age subgroups.ConclusionsOpportunities for further PHIM studies remain across all elements of the patient work system in terms of empirical, design science, or review work.

Highlights

Personal health information management (PHIM) is a process that involves creating, seeking, organizing, and sharing personal health information (PHI) of individuals to be engaged in their lives and their health care [1,2,3,4,5]
Six papers carried out age subgroup analyses and only one paper included in the review examined the differences in the personal health information management (PHIM) practices of midlife and elderly older adult subgroups
Our findings indicate that most empirical evidence in the literature far concerns person-related factors and the least evidence pertains to the physical environment of PHIM

Summary

Introduction

Personal health information management (PHIM) is a process that involves creating, seeking, organizing, and sharing personal health information (PHI) of individuals to be engaged in their lives and their health care [1,2,3,4,5]. Older adults represent a growing subpopulation with approximately 52.5 million people aged 65 years or older in 2018 (35% increase from 2008) in the United States, and the number is projected to almost double by 2060 [8] For this population, effective PHIM is of utmost importance as older adults often exhibit high health care needs [9] and costs [10] and may experience a decline in emotional well-being due to their health status [11]. Older adults face growing health care needs and could potentially benefit from personal health information management (PHIM) and PHIM technology. We carried out a qualitative analysis of papers pertinent to the topic taking into consideration the five elements of the patient work system as follows: (1) personal-level factors, (2) PHIM tasks, (3) tools used, (4) physical settings of PHIM activities, and (5) socio-organizational aspects. Conclusions: Opportunities for further PHIM studies remain across all elements of the patient work system in terms of empirical, design science, or review work

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