TY - JOUR
T1 - Older Adults’ Perceptions of ICT
T2 - Main Findings from the Technology In Later Life (TILL) Study
AU - Marston, Hannah Ramsden
AU - Genoe, Rebecca
AU - Freeman, Shannon
AU - Kulczycki, Cory
AU - Musselwhite, Charles
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: We gratefully acknowledged the financial assistance for transcription from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) grant [Monetize Me] [Grant Agreement: EP/L02185/1].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2019/7/4
Y1 - 2019/7/4
N2 - Technology is entwined in 21st Century society, and within the lives of people across all ages. The Technology In Later Life (TILL) study is the first piece of work contributing to the impact, behavior, and perception of technology use, by adults aged ≥70 years, residing in rural and suburban areas. TILL is an international, multi-centred, multi-methods study investigating and conceptualizing how various technologies impact the lives of older adults; residing in urban and rural locations in the United Kingdom (UK) and Canada. This in-depth study recruited 37 participants via a multi-methods approach. Analysis of the findings ascertained two overarching themes: facilitators of technology use (i.e., sharing of information and feeling secure), and detractors of technology (i.e., feelings of apprehension of use). Proposed recommendations include promotion of technology from a strengths-based perspective focusing on positive opportunities technology to improve health and wellbeing, creating a peer support network to assist with learning of new technology, and the need to examine further how intergenerational relationships may be enhanced through the use of technology. The distinction of these themes narrates to the originality of this initial study and milieu of recruited participants, intersecting across the fields of gerontology, geography, social sciences, and gerontechnology.
AB - Technology is entwined in 21st Century society, and within the lives of people across all ages. The Technology In Later Life (TILL) study is the first piece of work contributing to the impact, behavior, and perception of technology use, by adults aged ≥70 years, residing in rural and suburban areas. TILL is an international, multi-centred, multi-methods study investigating and conceptualizing how various technologies impact the lives of older adults; residing in urban and rural locations in the United Kingdom (UK) and Canada. This in-depth study recruited 37 participants via a multi-methods approach. Analysis of the findings ascertained two overarching themes: facilitators of technology use (i.e., sharing of information and feeling secure), and detractors of technology (i.e., feelings of apprehension of use). Proposed recommendations include promotion of technology from a strengths-based perspective focusing on positive opportunities technology to improve health and wellbeing, creating a peer support network to assist with learning of new technology, and the need to examine further how intergenerational relationships may be enhanced through the use of technology. The distinction of these themes narrates to the originality of this initial study and milieu of recruited participants, intersecting across the fields of gerontology, geography, social sciences, and gerontechnology.
KW - Community networks
KW - Gerontechnology
KW - Intergenerational
KW - Privacy
KW - Qualitative research methods
KW - Rural ageing
KW - Social connectedness
KW - Technology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85073459597&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/healthcare7030086
DO - 10.3390/healthcare7030086
M3 - Article
C2 - 31277387
VL - 7
JO - Healthcare
JF - Healthcare
IS - 3
M1 - 86
ER -