Long description

Digital health technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming health systems by increasing access to healthcare services, enabling more effective care pathways, and supporting personalized, preventive, and predictive healthcare. However, this digital transformation coincides with a rapid demographic shift in Europe, where ageing populations are placing growing pressure on healthcare systems.

Digital transformation is a key part of the solution, as reflected in the EU’s Digital Decade target: by 2030, all EU citizens should have access to their electronic health records.

However, there are barriers to this target and overall digital transformation. Examples of barriers include low levels of digital health literacy and less use of evidence-based implementation which can significantly hinder the expected impact of digital health solutions.

Low digital health literacy may exclude certain populations, particularly the elderly or underserved, worsening health inequalities. Efficiency can be compromised if solutions are poorly integrated into workflows, thus creating additional burdens instead of improving processes. The intended impact may fall short if solutions lack user-centric design, evidence of effectiveness, or fail to address real-world needs. Finally, implementation challenges, such as limited training, costs and organizational aspects, can prevent solutions from being adopted and scaled, limiting their overall effectiveness.

Digital health literacy is a critical factor in realizing the full potential of digital health technologies and achieving digital health equity. Research remains limited, leaving gaps in evidence to inform policy and practice.

Recent findings from the World Health Organization (WHO) highlight digital literacy as a key driver of disparities in healthcare access and health outcomes. Enhancing digital health literacy is therefore essential to mitigate expanding health inequities as healthcare becomes increasingly digitalization.

Both health and digital literacy are often framed within competency-based models that shape individuals' daily health decisions.

Aims of this workshop:

• Demonstrate the importance of digital health literacy,
• Share key insights from the IDEAHL (Improving Digital Empowerment for Active Healthy Living) EU project,
• Discuss policy aspects highlighted by the World Health Organization,
• Present experiences from case studies on digital clinical competence,
• Explore next steps to accelerate digital transformation in healthcare through enhanced digital health literacy and addressing health inequalities.

Speakers:

• Dr. Ryam Dos Santos. Policy expert, World Health Organisation.

Policy recommendations to enhance Digital health literacy. 

• Dr. Marta Pisano González. Head of Centered Care Service. General Direction of Care and Social Healthcare, Ministry of Health. Asturias. Spain.

Key insights from the IDEAHL (Improving digital empowerment for active healthy living of citizens in Europe) project.

• Amaya García Fueyo. Coordinator of the Citizen Care School. Asturias Health Department. Spain.

Key insights from the IDEAHL best practices based on citizens-focused experiences with chronic diseases.

• Dr. Ryam Dos Santos. Policy expert, World Health Organisation.

Policy recommendations to enhance Digital health literacy. 

• Patrik Göransson, Head of Innovation and Development Unit, Project leader (AMBeR, Digi-CaRe, PREPARE), Ängelholms Hospital, Skåne.

Experiences from clinical case studies: Development of digital clinical competence to enhance quality of care, patient experience, and efficient care pathways. 

• Dr. Fred Kjellson. Innovation Manager, Innovation Skåne AB. Skåne.

Exploring next steps to accelerate digital transformation through enhanced digital health literacy.

After the speakers, participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and share reflections.

Definition of concepts.

Digital literacy is defined as a skill of understanding and utilizing information from different digital sources. It encompasses four skills: Internet search, hypertext navigation, knowledge assembly, and

content evaluation.

Health literacy is related to people’s knowledge and competency in accessing, understanding, appraising, using and applying information relevant to health to make judgments and decisions in everyday life concerning healthcare services, health promotion and disease prevention.

Digital health literacy is the ability to seek, find, understand, and appraise health information from electronic resources to make appropriate health decisions or solve a health problem.

IDHEAL: The ‘Improving Digital Empowerment for Active Healthy Living’ (IDEAHL) project funded by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe programme (Grant Agreement No 101057477), https://ideahl.eu/  The IDHEAL consortium consists of 14 research and practitioner organisations in 10 European countries together with over 1,300 stakeholders especially health care professionals, policy makers, digital and (d)HL experts, and citizens.  IDEAHL co-created, tested an inclusive and comprehensive EU strategy on (d)HL, which can be implemented at national and regional levels.

The IDEAHL initiative is a Europewide effort that aims to create a comprehensive and inclusive EU strategy for improving (d)HL. The co- creation of health literacy policies and practices was the best way to achieve this, through engagement of stakeholders.

A map of current (d)HL at country and regional levels is created, using validated monitoring mechanisms identified by the initiative. In this way, IDEAHL will help empower EU citizens in using digital tools to play a more active role in managing their own health and well-being, and support innovation for person-centered care models. All this will contribute to reigning over health-related expenses to sustainable levels. Stakeholder engagement is central to the initiative to achieve these outcomes.

References 

• IDEAHL: Improving Digital Empowerment for Active Healthy Living | IDEAHL | Project | Results | HORIZON | CORDIS | European Commission
• van Kessel R, Wong BLH, Clemens T, Brand H. Digital health literacy as a super determinant of health: more than simply the sum of its parts. Internet Interv. 2022;27.
• World Health Organization. (2021). Global strategy on digital health 2020–2025. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240020924
• World Health Organization. (2023). Digital Health in the WHO European Region: the ongoing journey to commitment and transformation. https://www.who.int/europe/publications/m/item/digital-health-in-the-who-european-region-the-ongoing-journey-to-commitment-and-transformation
• European Commission. (2021). 2030 Digital Compass: the European way for the Digital Decade. European Commission. https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/digital-decade
• Bywall KS, Norgren T, Avagnina B, Gonzalez MP, Andersson SW; IDEAHL consortium. Calling for allied efforts to strengthen digital health literacy in Sweden: perspectives of policy makers. BMC Public Health. 2024 Sep 30;24(1):2666.
• Borges do Nascimento IJ, Abdulazeem H, Vasanthan LT, Martinez EZ, Zucoloto ML, Østengaard L, Azzopardi-Muscat N, Zapata T, Novillo-Ortiz D. Barriers and facilitators to utilizing digital health technologies by healthcare professionals. NPJ Digit Med 2023;6(1):161. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10507089/