152965 - eHealth literacy of Australian undergraduate health profession.pdf (702.53 kB)
Download fileeHealth literacy of Australian undergraduate health profession students: a descriptive study
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-21, 13:10 authored by Carey MatherCarey Mather, Chen, C, Tracy DouglasTracy Douglas, Elsworth, G, Osborne, RRapid growth in digital health technologies has increased demand for eHealth literacy of all stakeholders within health and social care environments. The digital future of health care services requires the next generation of health professionals to be well‐prepared to confidently provide high‐quality and safe health care. The aim of this study was to explore the eHealth literacy of undergraduate health profession students to inform undergraduate curriculum development to promote work‐readiness. A cross‐sectional survey was undertaken at an Australian university using the seven‐domain eHealth Literacy Questionnaire (eHLQ), with 610 students participating. A one‐way Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) with follow‐up univariate analysis (ANOVA) was used to determine if there were differences in eHLQ scores across 11 sociodemographic variables. Students generally had good knowledge of health (Scale 2); however, they had concerns over the security of online health data (Scale 4). There were also significant differences in age and ownership of digital devices. Students who were younger reported higher scores across all seven eHLQ scales than older students. This research provided an understanding of eHealth literacy of health profes‐ sion students and revealed sub‐groups that have lower eHealth literacy, suggesting that digital health skills should be integrated into university curriculums, especially related to practice‐based digital applications with special focus to address privacy and security concerns. Preparation of health profession students so they can efficiently address their own needs, and the needs of others, is recommended to minimise the digital divide within health and social care environments.
History
Publication title
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public HealthVolume
19Issue
17Article number
10751Number
10751Pagination
1-22ISSN
1660-4601Department/School
School of NursingPublisher
MDPIPlace of publication
SwitzerlandRights statement
Copyright 2022 by the authors. Li‐censee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and con‐ ditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://cre‐ ativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Repository Status
- Open