Successful Aging across Middle vs High-Income Countries: An Analysis of the Role of eHealth Literacy Associated with Loneliness and Wellbeing.

Publication date: Dec 14, 2024

“Successful aging” concerns the process of growing older while maintaining physical, cognitive, and social wellbeing, emphasizing independence for overall satisfaction and quality of life. We investigate the impact of e-health literacy on reducing loneliness and sustaining wellbeing during the pandemic, comparing middle- and high-income countries. Online surveys were conducted between April 4, 2020, and September 30, 2021, collecting responses (N=2091) from medium- and high-income countries in Europe, Asia, and North America. T-tests and ANOVAs were used to test how sociodemographic predictors were associated with differences in e-Health literacy, loneliness, and wellbeing. Respondents from high-income countries reported significantly higher wellbeing scores than those from middle-income countries and respondents from high-income countries had significantly higher e-HEALS (e-health literacy) scores compared to middle-income countries. No significant difference was observed in loneliness scores between high-income and middle-income country respondents. Wellbeing is associated with age, with younger adults (18-29 years) and those aged 40+ reporting higher levels. Higher education and income are linked to greater wellbeing. Gender differences are observed, with females and those with a partner reporting higher wellbeing. In middle-income countries, higher education levels are more linked to loneliness, while in higher-income countries, loneliness is observed across education levels. Future interventions by governments and policymakers should consider intersectionality in e-Health planning and offer digital literacy and digital skills training to those with lower education levels.

Concepts Keywords
Asia COVID-19
Online Cross-cultural studies
Pandemic E-Health
Wellbeing Successful aging
Technology

Semantics

Type Source Name
disease IDO role
disease MESH Loneliness
disease IDO process
disease IDO quality
disease IDO country
disease MESH education levels
disease MESH COVID-19

Original Article

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