There’s a strange transition happening in healthcare.
Your doctor may be using AI.
You may be using AI yourself.
Your medical records may be stored digitally.
Your insurance information may arrive through an app.
And increasingly, you’re expected to navigate all of it.
A 2026 AARP survey of 1,077 U.S. adults age 50 and older found that most older adults are comfortable with ordinary digital tasks—but confidence drops when the task becomes more complicated or risky.
For example, 93% said they felt confident finding health information online.
But that dropped to 84% for telehealth video calls and 81% for identifying online scams or fraud.
Among adults 65 and older, confidence in spotting scams fell to 74%, compared with 88% among people ages 50 to 64.
That’s an interesting gap.
Being comfortable using technology isn’t necessarily the same thing as being comfortable when the stakes are high.
Healthcare is becoming digital whether we like it or not.
Appointments.
Patient portals.
Prescription information.
Insurance documents.
Telehealth.
AI.
All of these can make life easier.
But they also create new opportunities for mistakes, confusion and fraud.
And that’s why digital confidence is becoming more than a convenience.
It is increasingly connected to health, money and independence.
You don’t have to become a technology expert.
You just need enough confidence to ask questions.
If a medical office sends you something through a portal and you don’t understand it, ask.
If someone calls claiming to be from Medicare and asks you to provide information, stop and verify.
If you’re unsure whether an online health service is legitimate, don’t let urgency make the decision for you.
And if technology is becoming difficult to manage, getting help isn’t a sign that you’re falling behind.
It’s a sensible response to a world that keeps changing.
The Watchdog takeaway
Digital literacy isn’t about knowing every new app.
It’s about being able to say:
“I don’t understand this yet, so I’m going to slow down.”
That may be one of the most valuable digital skills of all.
Evidence & Source
Evidence: Strong for the survey findings. The survey was nationally representative of U.S. adults age 50 and older, but the findings measure self-reported confidence rather than actual ability.
Source: AARP Research, 2026 — Read the survey(opens in a new tab).