Technoscientific Approach to Understanding Health, and Well-Being: What Does Age Tell Us about Digital Health Knowledge?

• In Event: 4266 - Section on Aging and the Life Course Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: 10. Technology and the Future of Aging

Abstract

In this paper, we explored the influence of e-trust, e-health literacy, e-health information seeking, and e-health information consumerism on medical satisfaction and positive health perceptions. Our sample consisted of 499 randomly selected panel members aged 40-93. We employed hierarchical ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses and structural equation modeling (SEM). We examined the moderating role of age on the relationship between medical satisfaction and positive health perceptions. A significant interaction was found between age and medical satisfaction in predicting positive health perceptions in the OLS regression models. Medical satisfaction has a stronger association with self-care, health-related quality of life, and health status in the older adult sample as compared with the middle-aged sample. SEM analyses revealed that e-health information seeking has an indirect effect on both medical satisfaction and positive health perceptions through its significant direct effect on e-health information consumerism. Both e-trust and e-health consumerism were significant predictors. The e-health literacy and e-trust measures were significant predictors of the positive health perception index in the OLS regression models. The results contribute to our understanding of the potential benefits information and communication technologies have for the health and well-being of computer-connected aging adults. Our research also offers pathways to conducting more research that could guide intervention studies promoting better insight into the perceptions of the health benefits and outcomes of technology use in mid-to-late life.

Authors

• Gul Seckin, University of North Texas

• Alexandra Veselka-Bush, Hendrix College

• Thomas DeGreve, University of North Texas