Merlijne Sonneveld: 'Digital care requires different skills than online shopping'

The gap between digitally proficient and less proficient people is unfair and leads to growing healthcare inequality. Merlijne Sonneveld, founder and director of Helpdesk Digitale Zorg, emphasizes that millions of Dutch people have difficulty using digital healthcare applications such as patient portals and health apps. As a result, they benefit less from the advantages of digital care, leading to health disparities.

According to Merlijne Sonneveld, more solidarity is necessary. "There will always be people who cannot arrange their care online. They will always continue to rely on physical care, while that is under enormous pressure due to the acute shortages."

Sonneveld will participate at Zorg & ict in the session "Health disparities, does digital care offer a solution, as will Marjo Visser of VGZ and Joris van Eijck of GelijkGezond. The session will take place on the Tech Mainstage on Tuesday, April 8, at 11 a.m. Register for free admission.

Digital self-reliance
That more and more people can use e-health and digital self-reliance is being encouraged, she calls "a good development. "That's why we need to support people in their digital self-reliance and make digital care accessible to everyone. " With her background in healthcare, Sonneveld, together with Tergooi MC, GP organization RHOGO and Amaris Zorggroep, set up the Digital Care Helpdesk Foundation in 2022. "My foster child made me realize that digital skills are not self-evident, even for people who can shop or play games online. Digital care requires very different skills than ordering something from a webshop."

Blessings
"Digitization has many blessings," she continues, "but there are also less pleasant sides to it. Of course it is great if you develop everything, but if you forget that there is a large group of people who are less digitally literate, you miss the mark. We just assume that everyone can keep up, but in practice this is not the case. Last year we received about 40,000 calls from people who needed our help."

Not just the elderly
Sonneveld emphasizes that these are not just the "usual suspects," such as the elderly or the low-literate. "Well no, there are plenty of people who are quite digitally proficient, but get stressed out because they have problems entering their DigiD, or are asked whether they have an iOS or an Android phone, and an NFC reader. Do you know what that is? And then there is often one of those hourglasses on the screen ticking away the time. Then those people lose confidence, too."

Care inequality
Driver points out the implications of digital backwardness. "A digitally proficient patient can scan a skin abnormality and take immediate action. Someone without those skills often delays a doctor's visit, reducing the chances of an early diagnosis. That fosters healthcare inequality."

Low-threshold support
Helpdesk Digital Care offers low-threshold support to healthcare institutions and their patients. Participating hospitals, GP organizations, health centers and mental health institutions will have their own landing page explaining the digital healthcare applications they offer, instructions on their specific healthcare apps and answers to frequently asked questions.

In addition, more than one hundred manuals in twenty languages are available. Patients who still get stuck can call a service desk employee from Helpdesk Digital Care, who will guide them step by step. "This eases the workload of healthcare professionals and creates more time for physical care," Sonneveld said.

Necessary player
Her foundation has now positioned itself as a unique and necessary player in the healthcare market, says the director. "Thanks to Helpdesk Digital Care, healthcare professionals can focus primarily on patients who really need physical care. By promoting self-reliance, we increase the accessibility of digital care and reduce the pressure on the healthcare sector."

Source: by Agnes Zuiker for Dutch Health Hub