Using KELA services is familiar for most of us now. I use KELA services both at work and at home to find out prescriptions and medical notes. Kanta services are fairly easy to connect to. Using my bank verification to sign in is becoming everyday task when you have medical issues. Sometimes it takes a few tries and my husband gets frustrated that when he has time to use the KELA services or he has something to report or fill an application, system is down due to services . Quite often that is a weekend when we have time to do things together. For someone not speaking Finnish KELA services can be very frustrating since pages are not in logical order and page titles are not in normal everyday language. Even for me filling an application can be a bit of struggle.
Ordering a European Health card being one of those situation. It was not in a logical place, had to use the search service to locate the application. Even that required accurate wording, not very good. But now I have a European Health card. Need to get to my family as well.
My pension was a shock, only 780 euros per month if I retire at the age of 63. But then realized I can retire at 65 years and 5 months at the earliest with full pension and can work until I am 70 years of age. Have worked 10 years abroad and hopefully will benefit from that as well one day. That is just a number, I feel like work is a good thing and keeps me going.
Ordering things and comparing prices when purchasing horse stuff is a very familiar task for me. One needs to do a lot of leg work as well and be careful with all the details. For example this pages offers free shipping, but only to certain countries. Also my earlier favorites are now on the other side of European Union border and taxation needs to considered and calculated into the price. Certain items have to be ordered from US or then I ask my sister to bring them when she comes over. I have the luxury of having relatives in the biggest horse countries on the world so can get bargains. Rugs now normally are been purchased from local equine shops to support and also to know other the local horse amateur and professionals. This time the rug for our horse was not ordered from this website but purchased locally, with a price difference of 30 euros in my pocket.
Chose HealthHub ( Terveyskylä.fi) since my own medical issue has made me to use this site. This was the first time used it on my computer and was shocked. Let me explain this in a bit more detail. Have accessed OmaPolku, my own health path, with Android phone for the last 6 months. The page has been very messy and information difficult to find, too much of it and important information disappearing into all the graphics of the front page.
I am a very visual person and see things with jsut one glance. This site has too much going on, it is not a good thing. Simple is better and encourages people to look for more. Here one gets a sensory overload and does not want to continue. Personally use only the messaging service, otherwise have found issues regarding my medical issue more easy to access in other pages. When HealthHub started I had great hope for it to be able to offer information and support to all but it has turned to be not informative enough and somehow confusing.
DIGITALIZATION AND DIGITAL GAP
Digitalization in health care is expected to solve everything. Clients care is supposed to be done via digital devices. Have we forgotten what WHO stated in 2019.
“Harnessing the power of digital technologies is essential for achieving universal health coverage,” says WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Ultimately, digital technologies are not ends in themselves; they are vital tools to promote health, keep the world safe, and serve the vulnerable.”
Here General -Director of WHO did not state that digitalization will offer solution to health care crisis but that it will give us tools to promote health. There is a difference. It is not up to the professionals to provide the health but digital technologies to be part the preventative medicine. Digital health care will not give the solution of caring for the ill in hospitals.
Citizens need to able use the digital services and we must make sure next generations are more digitally literate to be able to the services than us who were forced to grow up into the system with very little knowledge of it. There are negative side in digitalization as well. Cyber risks must be addressed for the children and young adults in digital world. Bullying, addiction and misinformation was mentioned in an article in the aftermath of COVID19 (Jackman 2021) also highlighting the importance of learning the digital skills with sufficient guidance and support.
Have to admit I lack of certain digital skills. I know that, but I am fine with it. Communication being the weakest of my skills. This is explained by being a hypersensitive person and work takes all out of me in socializing level. On my free time I do not want to socialize any more especially digitally.
My strongest digital skill id retrieving information and filtering the information required fast. This has made me to realise the importance of limitation of digital working environment and one of the negative side effects of digitalization, impatience.
EVALUATION
Assessing my own digi citizenship has made me to realise the lack of education I have for it. My skills are all self-taught and only up to my own initiation. My work place does not offer any education, all courses are on your own time on top of the work load. The importance of digitalization in health care industry is broadcasted but the time for the workers to obtain that skill is forgotten. How can we make sure our clients are digi ready when we are not.
References:
Jackman, J.A., Gentile, D.A., Cho, NJ. et al. Addressing the digital skills gap for future education. Nat Hum Behav 5, 542–545 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01074-z. Accessed 6.2.2023
WHO releases first guideline on digital health interventions https://www.who.int/news/item/17-04-2019-who-releases-first-guideline-on-digital-health-interventions. Accessed 6.2.2023
Commented on the following:
Welcome to look at digitalization from the perspective of agriculture! – Sanna Vidgren (savonia.fi)