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The use of health IT to improve care for aging adults

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Contents
1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................3
2. Theory................................................................................................................................................5
3. Application of Theory to Practice.....................................................................................................5
4. Reflection on practice........................................................................................................................8
5. Conclusion..........................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................................11
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1. Introduction
One of the challenges that has faced the world in recent years is rapid population ageing.

This is due to older adults outnumbering the children in 2018 (United Nations, 2019).

Additionally, the United Nations estimates that the older population will make up approximately

22% of the world population by 2050 (United Nations, 2019). Due to this rapid growth of ageing

population, there is a need to ensure proper preparation as well as delivery of health services

while supporting the ageing population to love a happy and full life.

It is evident that the wellbeing and health of ageing population is diverse. Even though

some older adults lead healthy lives devoid of major health issues, increase in ageing population

has as well corresponded with a heightened increase in non-communicable diseases such as heart

disease, cancer, and diabetes (World Health Organization, 2011), and co-occurrence of numerous

chronic conditions (Bähler et al., 2015). Older adults also experience mental health disorders and

depressive symptoms. Therefore, the maintenance and promotion of mental health is equally

vital to consider along with physical health for elderly people.

Health systems now tend to focus more on treating particular conditions than on treating

the full person, which is out of step with the complex requirements of older persons (Knight,

2013). It might be argued that the widespread adoption of this "single disease framework" by

contemporary health systems has impeded the delivery of integrated, "patient-centered care" to

senior citizens (Picco et al., 2016). Consequently, throughout the last 30 years, the prevalence of

mild-to-moderate impairment among older persons has remained steady, despite rising

advancements in health and medicine. This has led to a rise in the use of health services.

However, accessing health services can be particularly difficult for older adults for a variety of

reasons, such as low income or insurance, diminished mobility or disability, living in a rural or
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remote area, and negative self-perceptions about aging (which are linked to a lower quality of

life when it comes to health) (Gardiner et al., 2019).

Older persons who are looking for health information may find it very helpful to use the

health information (Jiang et al., 2022). But nothing is known about the percentage of senior

citizens who use health IT to look for medical information online and get in touch with medical

professionals (Hansen et al., 2019). Furthermore, the application of HIT to enhance the care of

elderly individuals has received less attention (Onyeaka et al., 2021). Actually, the need for this

information stems from the reality that older persons may benefit substantially from eHealth

services, but they also frequently have complicated management needs and may encounter

challenges to HIT.

Elderly patients are reported to be less inclined to participate in eHealth activities

(Hansen et al., 2019). Research indicates that, in contrast to non-elderly cohorts, elderly patients

rely more on their medical professionals for assistance rather than primarily or exclusively using

health information technology (IT) and may not view IT as a trustworthy, dependable, or user-

friendly resource (Pettus et al., 2017). Therefore, in order to support disadvantaged groups and

promote the advancement of health equality, it is crucial to identify the sociodemographic

characteristics that impact the usage of HIT in older patients. Additionally, there is inadequate

literature on the usage of health IT to improve care for aging adults, therefore, this study uses the

health belief model, and the theory of reasoned action to examine health IT use among aging

adults to improve their care. .

The specific objectives are:

i. To examine the usage of HIT among elderly patients

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ii. To investigate sociodemographic characteristics that impact the usage of HIT in older

patients

iii. To evaluate strategies to increase usage of HIT among elderly patients.

2. Theory
The health belief model is used to guide disease prevention programs and health promotion.

This model is used to predict and explain different changes in health behaviors (Şimşekoğlu and

Lajunen, 2008). Some of the key components of this model focus on personal beliefs regarding

health conditions that foresee individual health-related behaviors. Some of the key factors which

influence health behaviors according to the health belief model is perceived barriers to action,

perceived benefits, perceived severity, individuals perceived threat to disease or sickness, cues to

action, as well as self-efficacy (Green, Murphy and Gryboski, 2020). According to Daragmeh,

Sági and Zéman (2021). The health belief model can only explain the factors which influence the

application of HIT from a health perspective. Therefore, this model will be used in this study to

guide health promotion in a healthcare setting. This theory will be applied to predict and explain

individual changes in HIT usage among older populations.

Additionally, theory of reasoned action is applied in this research. This theory maintains that

intention and volition predict behavior (Conner, 2020). This theory suggests that if individuals

evaluate the implied behavior as positive and if they have the opinion that others might want

them to perform the behavior it might lead higher motivation (intention) hence having a huge

likelihood of performing the behavior (Ajzen, 2020). Therefore, this theory will be used to

emphasize the importance of using HIT among the aging population.

3. Application of Theory to Practice

In HIT, information, communication, and engineering (ICT) are used interchangeably to

refer to distant monitoring of patients. Monitoring patients via clip-on monitoring devices that
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send their health data and/or information electronically to the health attention provider, in

addition to e-mails, information and imaging instructions, and videoconferencing (Sheikh et al.,

2021). The practice of analyzing patients in the home dates back many years. HIT now makes it

possible for physicians to make practical house calls. In addition to glucose meters, blood force

pulse meters, radio-gradient tables, and many other electronic devices, patients can also connect

themselves to glucose meters, blood force pulse meters, and other devices that track their health

daily and provide results to their physicians.

Another device that has been incorporated in HIT for supervising elderly patients is the

Personal Emergency Response System (PERS). Normally, a PERS consists of a device that can

be worn on the wrist or as a pendant (Hesselink, Sir and Schoon, 2019). It automatically sends a

distress call in the event that the patient falls or has another type of emergency. Miskelly (2001)

states that new technological advances are becoming increasingly important to the attention of

older adults, both in homecare and at home. Roe et al. (2009) survey also forecasts that older

adults’ attention engineering, precisely those that monitor long-run occupants of attention

installations for general wellness as well as falls, will make $3.4 billion by 2015. U.S.

demographics indicate that the elderly population will more than double by the year 2050. Age-

related disablement, infirmity, and chronic disease rates increase with the percentage of aged

population. Aged adults with chronic illness who are weakened and live alone require monitoring

every 24 hours. While home wellness assistants might assist, they aren't able to be at their clients'

sides on a full-time basis. Furthermore, most of the elderly population would be unable to afford

such attention even if it were available

Wearable devices that monitor the elderly at all times are the most accessible sign of full

clip monitoring. Heart disease, cardiorespiratory disease, neurological disease, and diabetes are
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among the most common chronic diseases among the elderly. Falling is also more common

among the weak aged. Every twelve months, one in three senior citizens age 65 and older falls,

according to an article published by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2012. The

danger of early decline may increase if a person is constantly monitored for physical calm and

critical marks. Falling can lead to moderate to severe injuries, including hip breaks and caput

injuries. Frequent monitoring can prevent such events as hip breaks and caput injuries. An

individual's sense of independence and engagement with the community can be increased with

home-based gesture feeling (Patel et al., 2012).

HIT systems also utilize blood force per unit area turnups using finger detectors to

monitor blood pressure (Li et al., 2021). A web connection is used to transfer the information to

the database server. Information can be accessed remotely by a doctor or other healthcare

provider. In comparison with wearable monitoring devices, this type of system has a higher

degree of user interaction. In addition to wearing proctors to monitor blood force per unit area,

finger detectors and graduated tables, the patient is also required to interact with the home

monitoring stations. Medical detector websites are being designed, developed, and executed as a

result of advances in communication engineering, such as wearable and implantable biosensors.

A wide range of advanced health care monitoring applications can be deployed on these

websites. Medical detector designs, detector miniaturization, low-power detector circuitry, signal

processing, and communications protocols have been the focus of much research in the country

of medical detectors over the past few decades. Medicate at a distance or deliver distant medical

expertise using HIT. Those who live in rural areas, the elderly, and the disabled are the most

likely to need HIT engineering

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In order to improve the health of old persons, businesses in this field should invest in HIT

by putting resources into System Designs. One particular design that needs improvement is the

MBKM strategy based on the ECG-IJS approach. To enhance delivery of medical care, HIT-

based applications should ensure the security of streaming medical information by using MBKM

strategy. By implementing the MBKM strategy, which uses organic structure country webs, the

elderly persons suffering from diabetes can get their glucose levels measured by doctors through

measuring changes in important marks such as temperature, pulse rate, glucose level, blood force

per unit area and respiratory rate. As a result of medical sensors implanted in the patient's

organic structure, a medical expert working in the intensive care unit of the hospital can

determine the level of important marks and take necessary actions to save the patient's life.

Multi-modal proctors are available in intensive care units, allowing patients to be monitored

simultaneously in their wellness positions. A good form of protection against aggressors is

necessary for these important real-time medical data (Wang et al., 2010).

4. Reflection on practice
It has been evident that the aging population with underlying health issues, HIT and tele-

health is a viable and safe option for obtaining care. Nonetheless, studies have shown that HIT is

not effective for older adults as in-person visits where physical examination is required (Gomez

et al., 2021). Numerous studies have shown that the aging population, particularly older adults

that have mobility disabilities were highly satisfied with and receptive to HIT and tele-health for

its convenience, in-person-like interactions, as well as privacy protections where there is mental

health treatment cases ( Choi et al., 2020; Choi, An & Garcia, 2014). According to Iyer et al.

(2021), older adults along with their healthcare providers in the COVID-19 pandemic reported

high satisfaction levels with tele-health as a way of accessing care at the comfort of their homes.
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Nonetheless, there is a digital divide in spite of the necessity, convenience, and high

receptivity of tele-health particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. This divide is due to lack

of ICT devices such as internet access, device ownership, as well as ICT knowledge which

presents barriers to tele-health and HIT usage among low-income aging population (Choi and

DiNitto, 2013). Even though the digital divide among young, middle aged, and older adults has

reduced in recent years, Perrin (2021) argues that older adults have a low likelihood of owning

ICT devices. Additionally, most of the older adults do not have access to in-home internet. This

has led to low use of HIT among aging adults to improve their health care.

One of the strategies that need to be adopted to increase the use of HIT and tele-health

among aging adults is optimizing tele-health to include endeavors outside healthcare (Alrajeh et

al., 2019). For instance, the tele-health approaches should focuses on including diverse

populations and older adults, along with expanding internet access when testing and developing

new apps and portals within healthcare. This can include asking the aging population about their

internet access and technology while integrating literacy and sociodemographic metrics as well

as increase caregivers and patients access to electronic health records. Additionally, there is need

to provide older adults with functional, sensory, and cognitive impairments, adaptive solutions

like video monitoring to help with safe medication management, and remote cognitive evaluation

to detect change.

5. Conclusion
This study has shown that there is need to ensure that the older adults have access to

equipment like FaceTime and Zoom videoconferencing to assist in improving mood and mobility

while reducing social isolation. This is due to such technologies being able to decrease agitation

as well as behavioral issues like excess vocalization in aging people with dementia. Also, there is
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need to incorporate remote sensors which might reduce falls and improve safety in older adults

with dementia. Also, there is need to optimize use of HIT outside of the clinical settings.
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