Why do citizens seek help to use e-health? The motivations of citizens to attend an e-health course in the public library: a qualitative study (Preprint)

Abstract

Digitalization of health care services drives people to seek support in utilizing e-health. In the Dutch context, support is offered by public libraries through an e-health course. There is limited insight into the motivation of citizens to seek formal support in e-health use.

This is a qualitative study on motivations of citizens participating in an e-health course offered by public libraries. The aim of the study was to explore why citizens were motivated to seek formal support for e-health use, and whether this varied between participants with different educational backgrounds.

Twenty interviews with participants in an e-health course were conducted in seven public libraries across the Netherlands. The interviews were conducted between April and June 2022. The interviews covered participants’ motivations, attitudes, and experiences with e-health use and their motivations to seek help for e-health use. A comprehensive thematic data analysis was conducted.

The participants were aged 51 to 82 years of age (average 73.5 years of age) and 14 (70%) participants were female. Three motivational themes were identified: 1) adapting to an increasingly digital society, 2) sense of urgency facilitated by prior experience in health care, and 3) a need for self-reliance and autonomy. The second theme was observed more often among participants with a low educational background. Additionally, participants expressed a general desire for social contact and lifelong learning. A lack of adequate informal support by friends and family for digital skills and positive experiences with formal support by public libraries stimulated the participants to seek formal support for e-health use.

This study indicates that participants seeking formal support for e-health use in public libraries were mainly older adults, driven by their prior health care experience and by a desire to independently engage in a digital society. Persons with a lower educational background were more often motivated by the former. Future research should explore the needs and attitudes of non-users of digital health towards the development of digital health skills.