Purpose: The study established a community-based e-health management platform to encourage participants to practice self-health management with community mutual support within a health-promoting environment. The study explored whether the e-health management platform could influence the blood pressure, happiness, and spiritual well-being of community older adults.
Methods: This intervention-based longitudinal study used convenience sampling to recruit 74 participants aged 65 years and over who attended a community health screening event from January 2021 to June 2022. Blood pressure data were collected through the e-health management platform. Health literacy was assessed using the Mandarin Multidimensional Health Literacy Questionnaire (MMHLQ). Pre- and post-test measurements of happiness and spiritual well-being were conducted using the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS-C) and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy - Spiritual Well-Being (FACIT-Sp) scale. Chi-square tests, one-way ANOVA, paired t-tests, and multivariate logistic regression were performed to compare distributions and analyze correlations.
Results: Blood pressure was more likely to become abnormally high with increasing age and lower educational level (p=0.012, 0.036). Individuals with lower average monthly incomes were more likely to maintain normal blood pressure (p=0.027). Among the five dimensions of health literacy, better ability to apply health information was associated with a lower likelihood of developing high blood pressure (p=0.040). Conversely, better understanding of health information was unexpectedly associated with a higher likelihood of developing high blood pressure (p=0.018). A greater increase in happiness scores from pre- to post-intervention was associated with a lower likelihood of developing high blood pressure (p=0.015) and a higher likelihood of maintaining normal blood pressure (p=0.010). A greater increase in spiritual well-being scores was also associated with a reduced likelihood of developing high blood pressure (p=0.009).
Conclusion: The e-health management platform contributed to enhanced spiritual well-being among the study participants. Following the intervention, those with normal blood pressure experienced significant improvements in both happiness and spiritual well-being. Factors significantly associated with blood pressure changes before and after the intervention included age, education level, average monthly income, health literacy, happiness, and spiritual well-being. The study demonstrated that older adults could successfully engage in self-health management using a community-based platform. The findings suggest potential for developing more personalized and localized health services in community settings and may inform future community health initiatives.