Kroniskt sjuka och utvecklingen av digitaliseringen inom vården - En kvalitativ studie om hur äldre personer med kroniska sjukdomar upplever digitalisering.

Sammanfattning: The increased influence of digitalizing in the Swedish healthcare is a change that some people find it hard to adapt to. For most youths and people from the younger generations this is not considered a problem, since they have been exposed to different aspects of digitalization throughout their lives. However, how do older people and especially older people with chronic diseases feel about the digitalization and the changes it brings? The purpose of this study is to explore how people with chronic diseases experience this progresses in the society that has contributed to the digitalization within healthcare and the increased utilization of digital platforms. Previous studies indicate that both the change in the doctor-patient relationship and the increased possibilities for patient to access health information from their homes, is an effect of the digitalization. In this study, which is conducted with a qualitative method, we come to understand that older people with chronic diseases find it difficult to adapt to the digitalization. None of the participants are opposing it, rather they experience the changes as complicated. Furthermore, the participants stress the prerequisite of the physical contact with a doctor to enable a correct medical assessment. Whether or not this means that health centers will be dismantled is still unknown. However, our study shows that there is no resistance to digitalization among the participants, provided it is executed in a correct and trustworthy manner.