Ansam Barakat*, University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, utrecht, Netherlands Ryan Woolrych, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada Andrew Sixsmith, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada William Kearns, University of South Florida, Tampa, United States Helianthe Kort, University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, utrecht, Netherlands Track: Research Presentation Topic: Public (e-)health, population health technologies, surveillance Presentation Type: Poster presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Last modified: 2013-09-25 Free Full Paper

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Background: The demand for care is increasing, whereas the number of people working in professional care is decreasing. E-health technology can help to meet the growing demand for care. Despite the apparent positive effects of e-health technology, there are still barriers for e-health technology adoption related to lack of knowledge and skills associated with use.
Objective: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the competencies required by healthcare professionals within the field of e-healthcare.
Methods: A two-day collaborative workshop was undertaken with 14 academics across multiple disciplines. The workshop consisted of presentations and collaborative discussions. The presentations included a literature review on remote telecare, feedback on the application and development of assistive living technologies and improvement of clinical research through the use of mobile technology
Results: The findings revealed that healthcare professionals require a subset of composite skills as well as technology-specific competencies to develop the necessary aptitude in e-healthcare. The competencies and requirements are divided in six themes: ICT attitudes and skills , Interpretation and analysis of e-health data , Support and guidance , Communication skills and Privacy and confidentiality. This paper argues that e-healthcare technology skills must be instilled in healthcare professionals to ensure that technologies become integral components of future care delivery. Educating healthcare professionals with the necessary skill training in e-healthcare will improve service delivery and optimise e-healthcare’s potential to reduce costs by improving efficiency. Moreover, embedding e-healthcare competencies within training and education for healthcare professionals ensures that the benefits of new technologies are realised by casting them in the context of the larger system of care. These care improvements will potentially support the independent living of older persons at home.
Conclusion: This paper describes the healthcare professionals competencies and requirements needed for the use of e-health technologies to support elderly adults to age in place. This paper underscores the need for further discussion of the changing role of healthcare professionals within the context of emerging e-healthcare technologies. The findings are of value to local and central government, healthcare professionals, service delivery organisations and commissioners of care to use this paper as a framework to conduct and develop competencies for healthcare professionals working with e-health technologies.