Abstract
BackgroundDemographic changes are leading to an ageing population in Europe. People are becoming more dependent on digital technologies and health ministries invest increasingly in digitalisation. Societal digital demands impact older people and learning to use new telehealth systems and digital devices are seen as a means of securing their needs.MethodsThe present study undertakes a scoping review in order to map relevant evidence about telehealth and digital developments in society involving citizens aged 75 and over in European countries. It focuses on their experiences and the main barriers to, and facilitators of, societal digital demands. A framework proposed by Arksey and O`Malley was used to guide the scoping review process. The studies included in the review covered telehealth, digital technology and digital devices, and the context covered participants` own home or surroundings. A comprehensive search on PubMed/MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, Embase and Open Grey was undertaken.ResultsOut of 727 identified citations, 13 sources which met the inclusion criteria (9 original study articles, 2 theses, 1 letter about a product and 1 project report). Few of the studies identified have investigated European citizens 75 years and older separately. The studies included varied in their design, location and focus. Older people have experienced both telehealth and digital devices making life easier and the opposite. The outstanding facilitator found was that technology should be easy to use, and difficulty in remembering the instructions was seen as an important barrier. Interestingly, both social support and lack of social support were found as facilitators of using new devices.ConclusionsTelehealth may give a sense of security but learning to use a new device often takes extra effort. Older people were more open to new devices if the possible advantages of the new technology outweighed the effort that would be involved in adopting a new strategy. As technology develops rapidly, and life expectancy in Europe is anticipated to rise continually, there is a need for new and additional research among older European citizens. Future research should cover the technical solutions most relevant to older people today, social support and participants` access to the devices.
Highlights
Demographic changes are leading to an ageing population in Europe
Older people in Europe have experienced telehealth and information and communication technologies (ICT) both as making life easier and simultaneously the opposite. It may give a sense of security but learning to use a new device often takes extra effort
It was found that older people were more open to new devices if the possible advantage of the new technology outweighed the effort that would be involved in adopting a new strategy
Summary
Demographic changes are leading to an ageing population in Europe. People are becoming more dependent on digital technologies and health ministries invest increasingly in digitalisation. Societal digital demands impact older people and learning to use new telehealth systems and digital devices are seen as a means of securing their needs. The world is facing an ageing population and the proportion of older people is expected to grow even more [1]. The growing number of older people within society poses a range of challenges, creating a significant impact on socio-economic structures and providing a stimulus for the development of new goods and telehealth services adapted to the needs of the older generation [2, 3]. As much as any other age-group, digitalisation impacts older people [6]. Societal digital demands see learning to use new technologies as a means of securing older peoples health needs and human rights [8, 9]
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