Older Adults Seek Health Care Information Online

Therese Frare

As the growing senior population becomes more technically literate, online communications solutions are an ideal choice. Providing services, communicating clearly about those services, and offering information and resources to an aging population will be even more important for our clients in the coming years.

65+  U.S. Population to Triple by 2050
The U.S. Census Bureau announced in June, 2009 that the world’s 65 and older population will triple by 2050.  In the U.S., residents who are 65 and older currently make up 13% of the population, but that will double to 88.5 million persons by 2050.  In two years, the oldest baby boomers will start turning 65, and that bulge will continue to grow.   By 2030, one in five U.S. residents, or 20%, will be senior citizens.

61% of Adults are E-Patients
In deciding how to communicate the messages of your organization, consider some recent studies.  The Pew Research Center, a nonprofit “fact tank” that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America, released the results of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, Generations Online, in January 2009.  This report randomly surveyed, by telephone interviews, people aged 12 - 73+. It found that larger percentages of older adults are now online than in the past and older adults are doing more activities online.

Pew found that 74% of Americans go online, 57% of American households have broadband connections, and 61% of Americans are “e-patients,” which means they look online for health information.  Half of all e-patient inquirers (52%) are on behalf of someone else and two-thirds of the e-patients share the information they find online with someone else. 

For our rural clients, it is helpful to note that Pew released a Broadband Research study in April 2009 which shows that the percentage of rural residents with broadband connections increased to 46%, which is a 21% increase in just one year.

21% of Centenarians Use the Internet
Another interesting survey released in June 2009 reminds us that our oldest Americans are also Internet-savvy. The fourth annual http://evercarehealthplans.com/pdf/2009Evercare100at100KeyFindings.pdf, which interviewed 105 active centenarians; found that 21% go online, 12% use the internet to share photos, 10% use e-mail at least once a week, 4% download music, and 3% use Twitter.

Call to Action
IlluminAge offers website development services and online information services to make it easier to communicate to your clients. Would you like a tour of our services through a webinar or online meeting? Contact us to learn more about reaching and serving your audience.

Testimonial
Sidney Greenburger, CEO of Arista Care Health Services, says “I enjoy working with the IlluminAge team! They are knowledgeable about both the senior care community and website design and creation.  IlluminAge provides support from project conception to completion, ensuring that our site meets our needs as an organization and the the needs of the audience we serve.”