COVID-19 health communication strategies for older adults: Chatbots and traditional media

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly accelerated the development and use of new healthcare technologies. While younger individuals may have been able to quickly embrace virtual advancements, older adults may still have different needs in terms of health communication.

Objectives: To identify areas of interest and preferred sources of information related to the COVID-19 pandemic among older adults and to verify their eHealth competencies.

Material and methods: The study was conducted between February 2022 and July 2022. It included listeners from the University of the Third Age (U3A) and younger students. Both groups received information about the HealthBuddy+ chatbot, a questionnaire that addressed respondents' interests about COVID-19, and the PL-eHEALS (eHealth Literacy Scale) questionnaire to measure their eHealth competencies.

Results: There were 573 participants in the study (U3A listeners - 303 participants, median age: 73 years (interquartile range (IQR): 69-77); young adult students - 270, median age: 24 years (IQR: 23-24). The primary source of information about COVID-19 for older adults was television (84.5%), and for younger adults, internet (84.4%). Among the older adults, only 17% ever interacted with a chatbot (younger adults - 78% respectively), and 19% considered it a trustworthy source of information on COVID-19 compared to 79% of younger respondents. Older adults and younger adults in our study were most interested in COVID-19 treatment methods (45.5% and 69.3%, respectively), symptoms of the disease (36.6% and 35.2%, respectively) and chronic diseases coexisting with COVID-19 (35.0% and 51.5%, respectively). However, their eHealth competencies were generally low (median (Me): 34; IQR: 30-39) compared to younger adults (Me: 42; IQR: 40-47).

Conclusions: Health education for older adults should be appropriately tailored to their current needs and differentiated. The level of eHealth competencies of older adults suggests that much work remains to narrow the gap between the eHealth competencies of the younger and older generations.