Health technology readiness: The translation of READHY-FIN questionnaire

Authors

• Virpi Jylhä University of Eastern Finland, Department of Health and Social Management, Kuopio https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0725-1414
• Tuuli Turja Tampere University, Tampere https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7815-9511

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23996/fjhw.126867

Keywords:

health literacy, capability, digital services, information technology, surveys and questionnaires

Abstract

The digital healthcare services have become everyday activities for more and more citizens. The capabilities of citizens, such as knowledge, skills, attitudes, including trust and motivation, will determine their ability to exploit health technologies such as various digital health services. However, a large number of citizens have experienced difficulties in using digital health services. It is important to understand how citizens can make use of digital health services and how to improve the accessibility of digital services by creating services that meet their needs. This requirement is met by The Multidimensional Readiness and Enablement Index for Health Technology (READHY), which includes 13 domains with a total of 65 items. The questionnaire is internationally validated and used. The purpose of this study is to describe the READHY-FIN translation process and the structure of the Finnish questionnaire.

The translation and cultural adaptation process of the READHY followed the instructions of the University of Swinburne, which administers the survey rights. It consisted of three phases: 1) linguistic and cultural translation work, 2) cognitive interviews and 3) psychometric testing. The READHY-FIN questionnaire consists of five dimensions: 1) The intersection between users and technologies, 2) Users’ experience of systems, 3) Users’ attributes, 4) Social context and 5) The individuals’ capabilities to handle their condition and emotional response. Each dimension is divided into 2-4 domains and the domain contain 4-6 statements with a Likert-type response scale from 1 to 4. The structure of the READHY-FIN appears to correspond to the domains of the original measurement tool and the domains appear to be generally reliable. As a conclusion, READHY-FIN is a meaningful questionnaire to measure and enable the readiness to use health technology in different patient groups regardless of the type of technology.