Barriers and facilitators that affect public engagement with eHealth services

It is commonly accepted that public engagement with eHealth is beneficial. However, engagement is also variable. This article presents the findings of a review of published evaluation studies around eHealth services. A targeted search of MEDLINE, CINAHL and EMBASE returned 2622 unique abstracts. 50 articles met the inclusion criteria and were subjected to further analysis. 6 review articles were used for post hoc validation. Four main types of eHealth service or resource were identified: health information on the Internet; custom-built online health information; online support; and telehealth. 5 key themes emerged in terms of facilitators or barriers to engagement: characteristics of users; technological issues; characteristics of eHealth services; content issues; social aspects of use; and eHealth services in use. Recommendations arising from the review include: targeting efforts to engage those underserved by eHealth; maximizing exposure to eHealth across all sections of society; improving access to computers and the internet; appropriate design and delivery; ensuring content is relevant to different audiences; capitalizing on the interest in social computing; and clarifying the role of health workers in the delivery of eHealth.