Digital health offers: opportunities and challenges for seniors!

Digital health offers: opportunities and challenges for seniors!

Digital prevention is playing an increasingly central role in healthcare. A current project at the Brandenburg Theodor Fontane Medical School (MHB) entitled “DiPaH – Digital Prevention Measures for Arterial Hypertension” highlights the effectiveness of digital health offers specifically for people with high blood pressure. The survey focuses in particular on older people and vulnerable groups, including people with low incomes and limited health literacy. The project is carried out in collaboration with AOK Nordost and revFLect GmbH and receives support from the Innovation Committee of the Federal Joint Committee. According to the MHB, this initiative aims to identify factors that promote or hinder the use of digital health services.

The project's methodology includes a mixed methods approach that combines online surveys, face-to-face interviews and roundtables. In addition, anonymized health insurance data is evaluated and standardized questionnaires and guided interviews are used. The results of this research are summarized in a white paper that contains concrete recommendations for strengthening digital prevention.

Recommendations for digital healthcare

The central recommendations include targeting vulnerable groups and promoting digital health literacy through understandable offerings. Furthermore, the need to integrate digital offerings into regular medical care and to make the quality and impact measurable using transparent criteria is emphasized. Dunja Bruch, the project manager, emphasizes that digital technologies play an important role, especially in the treatment of high blood pressure. The complete white paper is available on the MHB website and serves as a basis for the further development of digital prevention.

A comprehensive study of digital health offerings in Germany shows how differently the population uses these resources. According to a study conducted by a team at DIW, 55% of respondents said they searched for health information online, while only 1.1% had experience with online advice. The study identified significant factors that influence online health information searches. These include age, gender and awareness of internet therapies.

Challenges and opportunities for older people

A particularly important aspect is the fact that older people in Germany in particular have difficulty using digital health services. Dr. Kufre Okop, health scientist at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg in Delmenhorst, is working on how digital offerings can be better designed for people over 55. A survey from 2023 shows that around a third of people over 60 in Germany never use the internet. Okop's approach aims to develop participatory strategies in which the needs of older users are integrated into the development process of digital applications.

Okop is currently working with a group of around ten people over the age of 55 to understand their reservations and needs. They discuss topics such as the importance of adequate fluid intake, especially at high temperatures, and explore the possibilities for collecting and evaluating health data through digital applications. The developed concept will be tested in a third project phase in the BIPS Living Lab and will then be compared with solutions in South Africa in order to take cultural differences into account.

Overall, it appears that digital health offerings offer both opportunities and challenges for the prevention and treatment of high blood pressure. However, it remains crucial to put research findings into practice to meet the needs of those affected and promote digital health literacy.