The use of digital technologies in the health sector is changing the way healthcare services are delivered, and how people manage their health. Digital health has the potential to positively impact health outcomes by improving the continuity, comfort, and celerity of healthcare processes, increasing access to healthcare services and information and therefore improving the quality of healthcare. However, digital health also carries the risk of generating and/or exacerbating health inequalities within vulnerable populations who have limited access or use of digital technologies and/or who have low levels of digital health literacy. This situation is common among older adults. In Portugal, according to Instituto Nacional de Estatística, in 2024, 39,7% of adults aged 65 to 74 did not use any equipment or systems connected to the internet. As older adults tend to rely more on healthcare, reduced adoption of digital technologies and insufficient knowledge or skills to use these technologies for health-related purposes may result in limited access to the benefits of digital transformation in healthcare, leading to their exclusion from this transformation. It is therefore fundamental to promote digital health literacy among the older population. However, to promote good levels of digital health literacy it is necessary to address existing inequalities in terms of digital access, skills and uses, considering the role played by sociodemographic factors other than age, such as socioeconomic status and education levels, in creating and reinforcing digital health inequalities. This essay aims to explore the challenges faced by older adults in Portugal in the digital age in terms of health. By overviewing the long-standing debate on the challenges and opportunities brought by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), we argue that to address low levels of digital health literacy among said population, it is crucial to address broader digital inequalities.

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Older adults,Digital transformation,Digital health technology,Digital health literacy,Digital health equity

• Psicologia - Ciências Sociais
• Sociologia - Ciências Sociais

Esta publicação é um output do(s) seguinte(s) projeto(s):

• Intenções e comportamentos de utilização de tecnologias digitais de saúde por adultos mais velhos: investigação colaborativa