Personal health information management among healthy older adults: Varying needs and approaches

Anne M Turner; Jean O Taylor; Andrea L Hartzler; Katie P Osterhage; Alyssa L Bosold; Ian S Painter; George Demiris

doi:10.1093/jamia/ocaa121

Personal health information management among healthy older adults: Varying needs and approaches

J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2021 Feb 15;28(2):322-333. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocaa121.

Authors

Anne M Turner^{1

2

3}, Jean O Taylor^{1

2}, Andrea L Hartzler³, Katie P Osterhage^{1

2}, Alyssa L Bosold², Ian S Painter^{1

2}, George Demiris^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Northwest Center for Public Health Practice, Seattle, Washington, USA.
² Department of Health Services, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
³ Department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
⁴ Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
⁵ Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Abstract

Objective: With age, older adults experience a greater number of chronic diseases and medical visits, and an increased need to manage their health information. Technological advances in consumer health information technologies (HITs) help patients gather, track, and organize their health information within and outside of clinical settings. However, HITs have not focused on the needs of older adults and their caregivers. The goal of the SOARING (Studying Older Adults and Researching their Information Needs and Goals) Project was to understand older adult personal health information management (PHIM) needs and practices to inform the design of HITs that support older adults.

Materials and methods: Drawing on the Work System Model, we took an ecological approach to investigate PHIM needs and practices of older adults in different residential settings. We conducted in-depth interviews and surveys with adults 60 years of age and older.

Results: We performed on-site in-person interview sessions with 88 generally healthy older adults in various settings including independent housing, retirement communities, assisted living, and homelessness. Our analysis revealed 5 key PHIM activities that older adults engage in: seeking, tracking, organizing, sharing health information, and emergency planning. We identified 3 major themes influencing older adults' practice of PHIM: (1) older adults are most concerned with maintaining health and preventing illness, (2) older adults frequently involve others in PHIM activities, and (3) older adults' approach to PHIM is situational and context-dependent.

Discussion: Older adults' approaches to PHIM are dynamic and sensitive to changes in health, social networks, personal habits, motivations, and goals.

Conclusions: PHIM tools that meet the needs of older adults should accommodate the dynamic nature of aging and variations in individual, organizational, and social contexts.

Keywords: aging; health information management; older adults; personal health information.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Electronic Health Records
Emergencies
Female
Health Information Management* / organization & administration
Health Records, Personal*
Humans
Interviews as Topic
Male
Medical Informatics
Middle Aged
Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

R01 HS022106/HS/AHRQ HHS/United States