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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1399867
This article is part of the Research Topic Telehealth and Remote Monitoring Solutions: Advancing Accessible and Effective Healthcare Delivery View all articles

The willingness to use internet-based home care services and its influencing factors among rural older people in Henan Province, China: a cross-sectional study

Provisionally accepted
Yan Yuwen Yan Yuwen Zhang Yan Zhang Yan *Zhang Huizhong Zhang Huizhong Li Xizheng Li Xizheng Meng Lixue Meng Lixue *Tian Yutong Tian Yutong *
  • School of Nursing and Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: To meet the growing health needs of older people, the Chinese government has introduced internet-based home care services. However, most rural older people have not yet benefited from such services, and the willingness to use these services and the factors influencing them remain unclear. Objective: We aim to investigate the current willingness of rural older people to use internet-based home care services and analyze the factors. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study across multiple centers using general information and self-developed questionnaires. Qualitative interviews, a literature review and the Delphi method were employed to develop the questionnaire. A total score of the questionnaire above 78 or higher indicates a high willingness to use internet-based home care services. Descriptive statistics, t tests, one-way ANOVA, and multiple linear regression were used to explore the factors that influence the willingness of rural older people to use internet-based home care services.We surveyed 349 rural older people. The total score of rural older people's willingness to use internet-based home care services was 84.49±10.88, indicating high willingness, with the highest score for the dimension of perceived usefulness and lower scores for the dimension of perceived ease of use. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that gender, education level, residence status, number of chronic diseases, and knowledge of internet-based home care services were the most important factors for rural older people (all p < 0.05).The willingness of rural older people to use internet-based home care services is high. Thus, it is recommended that county hospitals increase public awareness of such services, optimize the design of their interfaces, and support family and social resources from relevant departments that can maximize access, so as to provide a reference for later relevant departments to enhance willingness.

    Keywords: rural, older people, Internet-based home care services, Willingness to use, Cross-sectional study

    Received: 12 Mar 2024; Accepted: 26 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yuwen, Yan, Huizhong, Xizheng, Lixue and Yutong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Zhang Yan, School of Nursing and Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
    Meng Lixue, School of Nursing and Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
    Tian Yutong, School of Nursing and Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.