In his TED talk, Aleph (2011) asserts digital divide is a “new illiteracy”, and it occurs due to
people not being able to afford the technology, lacking the skills of using it,
and some are simply unaware of the benefits. Having access to Internet should
be a right in the digitally revolutionised 21st century as we are unable to operate
without it.
Singapore have worked her
way up to being one of the most connected country in this highly digitalised
world. However, there are still minority groups in Singapore, such as the
elderly who lacks the skills to access the Internet. This has caused repercussions
such as the decrease in efficacy of healthcare treatments, and to resolve this,
medical institutions will have to provide healthcare information actively, and
government agencies can come up with Information Communication Technology (ICT)
bridging courses.
According to Infocomm
Development Authority of Singapore (iDA) (n.d.c), Residential Wired Broadband
Household Penetration Rate of 106.7% in June 2013, Singapore has become one of
the most connected country in the world. However, digital divide still exists.
Even with a broadband penetration rate of more than 100%, according iDA (2013)
only 84% of the households actually have access to the Internet. This implies
that while some households are subscribing to multiple broadband lines, others
simply cannot afford it. Even if the household are subscribed to broadband
lines, there are people, such as the elderly, who simply just lack the required
skills to use it. According to iDA (n.d.a), in 2012, only 16% of the people
above 60 years old are using the Internet. As people age, their body become
more prone to illnesses and viruses. The elderly who lack access to the
Internet is therefore deprived of vital information for aspects such as
healthcare. Healthcare information is therefore extremely important for the
elderly to allow them to make informed decisions regarding their health.
Mia, Scott and Charles
(2011) discuss the importance of having access to health information. In their
research, they realised that many studies have shown the various benefits of
having access to health information. Patients are seeking information online so
that they can have a better understanding of the information that doctors
provided them during the consultation, thus boosting their confidence. This act
of information seeking also shows that the patients are more concerned about
their own health and they will question the medical professionals more during
their visits and will take the doctors’ recommendation more seriously. The
strong cooperation of the patient will lead to a more effective treatment.
Fox and Purcell (2010 as cited
in Mark, Milda, Christopher, Yolanda, Michelle and
James, 2013), observe that 81% of the healthy adults access the Internet
frequently while only 52% of those who are diagnosed with chronic illness go
online, and they concluded that with all factors being held constant, people
living with chronic illness have a negative correlation with having access to
the Internet. With the elderly being more prone to chronic illnesses, this
further reduces the likelihood for them to have access to the Internet. Medical
institutions and government will therefore have to intervene.
One of the many ways we
can bridge this disparity will be for medical institutions to actively
disseminate healthcare information down the patient network via means such as
mobile phone messaging service. Miloh (2009, as cited in Mark, Milda,
Christopher, Yolanda, Michelle and
James, 2013) discovers that after a text message reminder system has been
implemented, there is a vast improvement in medication adherence and a decrease
in rejection among pediatric liver transplant patients. With a successful
framework already set up, we can further improve it by incorporating the
dissemination of healthcare information. The patient will have to subscribe to
this service and choose their preferred language. The healthcare messages will
be filtered to suit the patient’s needs as different people are suffering from
different conditions. These messages will be able to keep the patients informed
about their conditions and what they are able to do to boost their recovery.
Even after the patients have recovered, they can continue with this service for
advices on post recovery and even tips for healthy lifestyle.
With Singapore having a
mobile penetration rate of 156% in 2013 (iDA, n.d.c), we may safely assume that
almost everyone owns a mobile phone. It is very crucial for the patient to own
a mobile phone as this serves as a medium for information. Since medical
institutions are already employing the use of mobile phone messaging for
confirmation of appointments. They will not need to set up the Information
Technology (IT) infrastructure from scratch, resulting in a huge amount of cost
savings. However, some people may view these kind of services as a spam and
find it a nuisance as they believe that they are able to obtain those
information online, therefore unwilling to subscribe to it. Although this
service will be made available to all, the target audience of this service will
be the elderly who have limited access to the Internet, opinions of the people
who have access to the Internet will not affect the feasibility of this
initiative. At the same time, the information obtained online may be dubious
and lead to an adverse effect on the patient. With proper publicity, this
service may attract more users than just those who lack access to the Internet
as these are precious advice directly from the medical experts.
As a person ages, their
health will start to deteriorate, illnesses are more likely to set in. It is
very crucial for the elderlies to gain access to health information and keep
themselves healthy. These information are readily available online. What some
of the elderly are lacking is the skills to access them. iDA launched The
Silver Infocomm Initiative (SII) in 2007. The SII
is a programme that aims to bridge the digital divide for the senior citizens
in Singapore (iDA). This programme includes two parts, the Silver Infocomm Hotspots
and Junctions. The first part will focus mainly on providing the facilities for
the elderly to access the Internet by setting up 100 free hotspots island-wide.
The second part will focus on imparting the skills of accessing the internet to
the elderly. The senior citizens will be grouped based on their education
background, language and their ability to use ICTs. Lessons on how to use the
computer and the Internet will then be conducted based on the groups they are
in. This will be allow the senior citizens to be competent in using the
Internet.
With
the elderlies being divided into different classes and the lessons will be
planned according to their choice of language and the experience they have with
IT. This may facilitate their learning process and also provide them with a
good learning experience. This programme is extremely feasible as it targets
the root cause of the problem, digital divide, by providing both facilities and
skills. However, there may be a lack of publicity for this programme, resulting
in a low participation rate of this programme, which may render it ineffective.
Access
to healthcare information allows people to make more informed decision on
healthy lifestyle and also on their medical condition if any. Effectiveness of
treatment is also closely related to the amount of information the patients
have. With so many benefits closely related to having Internet access, medical
institutes and government agencies should participate actively to provide
access to healthcare information.
References
Aleph, M. (2011, August).
Let’s bridge the digital divide!
Retrieved from
Infocomm
Development Authority of Singapore (2013). Annual
Survey on Infocomm Usage in Households and by Individuals for 2012.
Retrieved from
http://www.ida.gov.sg/~/media/Files/Infocomm%20Landscape/Facts%20and%20Figures/SurveyReport/2012/2012HHmgt.pdf
Infocomm
Development Authority of Singapore (n.d.a). Infocomm
Usage- Household and Individuals. Retrieved from
Infocomm Development
Authority of Singapore (n.d.b). Silver
Infocomm Initiative. Retrieved from
Infocomm Development
Authority of Singapore (n.d.c). Statistics:
Telecommunications. Retrieved from
James, B.W III., Darren,
M., Stephanie, S. W., Gary, L. H., Doğan,
E. & Jay, M. B. (2010, August). Health Information- Seeking Behaviours,
Health Indicators, and Health Risks. [Electronic version]. American Journal of Public Health
vol 100, No. 8, 1520-1525
Mark,
B. L., Milda, R. S., Christopher, S. L., Yolanda, T. B., Michelle, A.J. &
W. James. C. (2013, December). Kidney Transplant and digital divide: is
information and communication technology a barrier or a bridge to transplant
for African Americans? [Electronic version]. Progress
in transplantation vol 23, No.4, 302-309
Mia,
L. A. L., Scott, A.S. and Charles, C. H. (2011, September). Exploring digital
divides: An examination of eHealth technology use in health information
seeking, communication and personal health information management in the USA
[Electronic version]. Health
Informatics Journal 225-244
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