Wednesday, 1 October 2014

Digital Divide and Healthcare (Draft 1)

Introduction

In his TED talk, Molinari (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 people simply cannot operate without it. People who are being digitally excluded will lose access to vital information such as health information. This essay will discuss how the loss of information is causing varying levels of effectiveness of healthcare in Singapore between those who have access to Information Communication Technology (ICT) and those who do not, how medical institutions and government agencies can participate actively to bridge this disparity, and evaluate these measures.


Digital Divide and Health

With a Residential Wired Broadband Household Penetration Rate of 106.7% in June 2013(Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (iDA)), 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 (2012) 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 elderlies, who simply just lack the required skills to use it. This minority group is losing vital information for many aspects such as healthcare.

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 better understand the information the doctor provides 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. They will question the medical professionals more during their visits and will take the doctors’ recommendation more seriously. Fox and Purcell cited in Mark, Milda, Christopher, Yolanda, Michelle and James (2013), observes that 81% of the healthy adults access the Internet frequently while only 52% of those who are diagnosed with chronic illness go online. Those who are chronically illness and visits the Internet frequently are more likely to gain access to health information from various sources. These information will help the patients understand and cope better with their illness. With all these observations, there is no doubt that having access to healthcare information will result in more effective treatments due to higher confidence of well-informed patients.


Mobile phones!

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. The patient will have to subscribe to this service and choose their preferred language. The healthcare messages will have to be filtered to suit the patient 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), we can 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 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 those who have limited access to the Internet. At the same time, the information obtained online might 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 doctors.


Silver Infocomm Initiative

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 elderlies are lacking is the skills to access them. In recent years, iDA have come up with programme to impart the elderlies this set of skills.
The Silver Infocomm Initiative (SII) is a programme that aims to bridge the digital divide for the senior citizens in Singapore (iDA). The senior citizens are split up 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 will not only smoothen their learning curve, but also allow them to have a good learning experience. This programme is extremely feasible as it targets the root cause of the problem, digital divide. With digital divide causing more problems than just the loss of healthcare information, it is very crucial for us to bridge the divide as much as possible to reduce the negative impacts on society.


Conclusion

Effectiveness of medical treatment depends largely on the amount of information the patients have. With digital divide, some patients are unable to obtain precious healthcare information. Medical institutes and government agencies must participate actively to provide information or skills in order to bridge this healthcare divide.


References

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

Aleph. M. (2011). Lets bridge the digital divide. Retrieved from




1 comment:

  1. Hi,

    Introduction paragraph:

    -lose access (maybe rephrased to - lack of information)
    -Look for more expert opinions to support the claims

    Second part

    -52% and 81 % not linked to the frequencies
    -With all these observations, there is no doubt that having access to healthcare information will result in more effective treatments due to higher confidence of well-informed patients(what observation – needs more support)

    -"will have to be filtered"(suit the patient’s needs)

    -safely assume that almost everyone owns a mobile phone(support assumption – what if someone owns 10 handphones)

    -This will not only smoothen their learning curve, but also allow them to have a good learning experience.(phrased in a way that is like making assumptions-maybe facilitate? )

    -With digital divide causing more problems than just the loss of healthcare information, it is very crucial for us to bridge the divide as much as possible to reduce the negative impacts on society.(relevance to the paragraph?)

    Louis Jessica Haien

    ReplyDelete