Online health information has the potential to become an important resource for seniors “but it's not there yet,” the Kaiser Family Foundation reported in a survey of 1,450 adults aged 50 and older.
Of the 583 respondents aged 65 and older, less than a third had ever gone online. But more than two-thirds of the next generation of seniors (50-64 years) has done so, indicating that online resources may soon play a much larger role among older Americans. Seniors whose annual household income is under $20,000 a year are much less likely to have gone online (15%) as opposed to those with incomes of $50,000 or more (65%).
“We know that the Internet can be a great health tool for seniors, but the majority are lower-income, less well-educated, and not online,” said Drew Altman, the foundation's president and chief executive officer.