Digital Health Technologies include My Health Record (MHR), Active Script Lists and e-prescriptions. They can help people to access and be in control of their medical information, leading to better health outcomes.
Unfortunately, many older people are excluded from these benefits, for reasons that include:
- Low awareness of digital health technologies.
- Minimal trust in digital health technologies such as MyHealth Record (MHR).
- Low uptake by GPs and hospitals.
- Ageism.
- Complexity of some applications.
At COTA Australia, we wanted to know what could be done about this. We worked closely with the Australian Digital Health Agency to test a pilot program that would recruit and train digital mentors to work with older people and their communities.
What did we do?
Over two years, with the support of organisations including U3A, CWA Lindisfarne and COTA Tasmania, we recruited and trained 16 mentors from Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland.
With the mentors, we developed and tested a range of materials that would make digital health technologies more accessible to older people. We ran workshops with the mentors to make sure the materials were relevant and accessible.
The mentors were then asked to engage with their communities, test the material and let us know what they found out/what people thought about digital health technologies.
We evaluated the pilot
We also engaged in an extensive evaluation of the program. In mid-2025 we interviewed the mentors about what they learned, how they used it, what the needs of their communities are. We talked with people who had participated in the sessions run by the mentors. We wanted to know how effective digital mentors projects are, what older people need to feel confident in using digital health technologies such as MyGov, My Health Record, and e prescribing.
What did we hear?
Digital mentoring programs and digital mentors can support older people with learning about the benefits and strengths of digital health applications.
They include:
- Address people’s fears about hacking, data breaches, of being ‘forced’ to go online.
- Create spaces for older people to connect and learn from each other’s experience, instilling confidence in using technologies.
- Support older people to challenge the ageism of medical professionals who assume they are digitally illiterate.
Older people see the benefits of digital health technologies such as MHR and electronic prescriptions but require sustained and iterative approaches to use them. For many older people, digital health technologies CAN improve health outcomes. The mentors helped people understand the benefits of these technologies, build awareness and trust in the systems, and advocate for their inclusion. However, effective support needs to be community-based peer-led and ongoing.
Digital mentors need to be resourced and supported to continue and expand this work. There is a need for a range of strategies that improve digital health literacy and uptake among older people. To be effective, these need to be grounded in community, iterative and delivered peer to peer – by people who understand. Learning and awareness take time. Future iterations of this pilot could build and expand community strengths, connections and expertise of people already committed to this work.
To see what people had to say about the pilot program, you can watch the video HERE
