Framework analysis on the adoption of digital healthcare services among senior citizens by using the extended technology acceptance model (ETAM)

Abstract

Over the years, the digital healthcare sector has started taking shape across the world with the intention to deliver social benefits to all citizens. In Malaysia, a lot of effort has taken place to improve the healthcare system to be more efficient and accessible. SELangkah mobile application developed by Selgate Corporation for instance provided multi-step health features for users. Besides the proliferation of mobile technology, the aging population is one of the key drivers that cause healthcare-related stakeholders in Malaysia to start making considerable improvements toward digital healthcare services. Thus, senior citizens are considered one of the more important age-groups for service providers to focus on. However, the adoption of the health technology in Malaysia is relatively low and as of the year 2020, only 10.7% of Malaysia’s senior citizens aged 60 years and above have adopted digital healthcare services. This number may grow as the population of Malaysia’s senior citizen are expected to rise to 14.5% of the total population by 2040. Therefore, this study utilizes framework analysis in identifying potential challenges for senior citizens to adopt to technology alongside framework analysis method to assess framework models that uses the extended technology acceptance model (ETAM) to measure user adoption of digital healthcare services. The framework analysis consists of five stages which includes familiarization, identifying framework, indexing, charting, mapping and interpretation. The findings show the relationship between users’ acceptance model with senior citizens’ actual use of the digital healthcare system in addition to the main challenges being information quality, privacy and security, trust, and health literacy. This will contribute to the foundation for future research aimed at improving digital healthcare services and bridge the gap in technology access to be the opportunity to use digital means as a tool for a healthier life.