Use of e-health communication to improve social wellbeing in older adults : A Structured literature review

Abstract Introduction: The aged population is increasing and it correlates with comorbidities and hospital dependency. E-health communication is a potent source of communication between healthcare staff and people using it and it’s a non-medical way of getting access to health. Social well-being is an undeniable determinant of well-being and in older adults, it has special significance and promotes healthy aging. Aim: The study aims to summarise the evidence on the “use of e-health communication to improve the social wellbeing of older adults”. Method: This study has used a structured literature review as a methodology to gather and synthesize knowledge concerning the aim of what is already researched in this field. A systematic search was conducted in three databases, Cinahl, PubMed, and Web of Science along with the pearl growing method.126 studies were found initially and transferred to Covidence. Inclusion criteria of all included studies were: related to humans, in the English language, and relevant to e-health communication of any type, older adults with chronic and without chronic diseases, and hospitalized and non- hospitalized older adults too. Young adults, older adults not using e-health communication of any type, qualitative studies, reviews, and reports were excluded. Studies were finalized after reading the title and abstract and then full-length reading was done. Caldwell’s quality assessment checklist was used to assess the quality of articles and 1 article was removed based on that. Results: Out of 126 studies, 11 studies were finalized for the review based on inclusion criteria and full article reading. Out of 11 articles, n=3 was cross- sectional, n=5 were surveys, n=1 was a clinical trial, n=1 was a randomized control trial, and n=case-control study. There was a range of geographical regions that arose, most of the studies were from the USA n=5, n=2 from Spain, n=2 from Sweden, n=2 from China, and n=1 from the United Kingdom and the European Union. The studies were of good and moderate quality. All included studies showed the scarcity of knowledge on social well-being and its direct link with e-health communication and older adults. Most of the studies presented results with relevant social concepts which eventually define social well-being. Different types of e-health communication tools were being used by older adults. Additionally, e-health communication proved to be useful in improving the social well-being of older adults in many ways. Moreover, satisfaction, quality of life, contentment, and social connectedness were reported in many studies which also come under the domain of social well-being. Conclusion: From systematic literature search and results, it is evident that e- heath communication has a positive impact on the social aspect of well-being but due to ambiguity in its definition, a lot of other social concepts are being used in literature and research. Studies should be conducted either quantitative or qualitative to expand the knowledge in this area of study