Understanding older adults’ motivations to use digital health technology

Trinh, Mimi

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120319 Copy

Description

Title

Understanding older adults’ motivations to use digital health technology

Author(s)

Trinh, Mimi

Issue Date

2023-04-25

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Rogers, Wendy A

Committee Member(s)

• Hale, Timothy M
• Mejia, Shannon

Department of Study

Kinesiology & Community Health

Discipline

Community Health

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Digital health technology
• health technology
• health portal
• motivation
• self determination theory, Unified theory of acceptance and usage of technology

Abstract

The number of people over the age of 60 will continue to increase over the next decades. Many of these older adults have chronic health conditions, such as high blood pressure or diabetes. Digital health technology (DHT) could be a potentially useful tool for wellness management, healthcare provider communication, and health records. Though DHT is capable of those things, they need to be utilized efficiently. We must learn more about how older adults use their digital health technology, what motivates them to use it, and how their experience can be improved. One notable gap in understanding is the relationship between individual motivation and adoption of digital health technology for older adults. In this study, 26 older adults between the ages of 60 – 85 who logged into their health portal at least twice a year were interviewed. A semi-structured interview was used to learn more about their digital health technology usage (e.g., why they adopted it, what they tracked in their health portal, and how often they used it), and what motivates them to adopt digital health technology. We used the Self Determination Theory and the Unified Theory of Acceptance of Use of Technology model to assess factors that were intrinsic motivators as well as what facilitated the use of digital health technology. The transcribed data were coded into these factors using to evaluate the factors that were reportedly important to the older adults’ use of their health portal. Older adults were motivated to use their health portal when they were facilitated by factors of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. At some point, most of the older adults were encouraged to use their health portal by their healthcare provider or healthcare staff, though they still chose to adopt it of their own volition. Participants shared that they learned to use many of the features of their health portal. When they needed additional assistance, there was a source of support (family, friends, provider, or technical support) when required. The findings of this study will help with future health portal development, how older adults are encouraged to use their health portals, and how they are provided support when using their health portal. Providers should be more proactive in introducing and encouraging usage of health portals, which can be done by providing an overview of benefits and how to get started (e.g., setting up the account, and login requirements). Furthermore, implementing uniform design across health portals may facilitate its usage. This would also allow older adults to tailor their health portals to their needs. Using health portals, older adults can achieve wellness and foster positive health behaviors such as regularly checking their health status and lab results.

Graduation Semester

2023-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2023 Mimi Trinh

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