EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP OF HEALTH LITERACY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT WITH THE USE OF MOBILE HEALTH APPLICATION

Abstract

Seniors’ mHealth apps usage is low despite the benefits of promoting healthy active ageing to mitigate chronic diseases. The Health Empowerment Model (HEM) posited that individuals with high health literacy (HL) and psychological empowerment (PE) will attain optimal health behaviours, while individuals with mismatched or low HL and PE will attain suboptimal behaviours. This study explored the simultaneous effects of HL and PE on frequency of Healthy 365 app usage, and effect of app usage on HL and PE. 170 local seniors (aged ? 50 years) completed a pre-test online questionnaire assessing HL and PE, followed by four-weeks of app usage, and post-test online questionnaire assessing HL, PE, and frequency of app usage. Results revealed that HL and PE were significantly positively associated with frequency of app usage. High PE and HL seniors had the highest frequency of app usage, followed by high PE and low HL seniors. Low PE seniors had low frequency of app usage regardless of HL levels. App usage elicited small significant increase in PE, with no change for HL. These results supported the HEM and established a simultaneous effect of HL and PE on frequency of mHealth app usage, with PE being a stronger facilitator.