This paper focuses on the “medical knowledge” and “the elderly” that the autonomy of individuals who can freely use information obtained through digital media including the internet can interfere with knowledge collection. As the average life expectancy increases, the “Newly Elderly”, differentiated from the old age corresponding to the third period of the life cycle, are being reborn as the new economic subjects of the consumer market. On the other hand, problems that may arise in using health information through websites are overlooked because they are proficient and active in the use of digital devices. The main prior research was about health content strategies suitable for the environment of digital media and interactivity in websites providing health information. However, this paper is to present the necessity of literacy for medical knowledge by focusing on the web use of the elderly who have been granted a right position as a new consumer. There are prior studies that elderly people are still easily exposed to drug abuse and their degree varies depending on age, educational and economic levels, and residence in the metropolitan area.
In this sense, it is insufficient to generalize the whole of the elderly, and to remain positive as a consumer as an economic entity, a selector of lifelong education as a subject of education, and a content maker as a culture creator. On the other hand, this paper points out the biased viewpoint of the media in which the elderly population is polarized by aging and social burden, and suggests the importance of medical literacy related to the life of the elderly. An empirical survey of data following the need for medical literacy and presentation of educational methods is left as a follow-up study.
