Gadbois Emily A, Jimenez Frances, Brazier Joan F, Davoodi Natalie M, Nunn Amy S, Mills Whitney L, Dosa David, Thomas Kali S
Health Services, Policy & Practice, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Health Sciences, NORC at the University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Innov Aging. 2022 Jun 2;6(5):igac040. doi: 10.1093/geroni/igac040. eCollection 2022.
Social isolation and loneliness are common among older adults and associated with negative health outcomes including cognitive decline, depression, suicide ideation, and mortality. Information and communication technology interventions are often used to combat loneliness and social isolation; however, homebound older adults face barriers to access. This study reports findings from a novel pilot intervention, called Talking Tech, designed to reduce loneliness and social isolation in homebound older adults by providing one-on-one, in-home technology training, a tablet, and the internet, to promote digital literacy and participation in a virtual senior center.
Twenty-one homebound older adults participated in this 14-week, volunteer-delivered program. We used qualitative interviews with participants, volunteers, and program staff, weekly progress reports from volunteers, and quantitative pre- and postintervention surveys with participants to examine experiences and to evaluate the impact of the intervention on loneliness and social isolation. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis and pre- and postintervention survey data were compared.
Participants reported increased technological literacy and use, increased access to online activities, and improved facilitation of social connections to existing and new networks. Additionally, during interviews, many participants reported that participating in Talking Tech alleviated their loneliness. While not statistically significant, our quantitative analysis revealed trends toward decreased participant feelings of loneliness and increased technology use. Additionally, intervention adoption and retention were high, with only one participant withdrawing from the intervention.
This evaluation of the novel Talking Tech pilot intervention provides critical insights into strategies to reduce loneliness and isolation for older adults, with implications for future research, policy, and practice. Findings demonstrate that individualized technology training may be an acceptable way to improve well-being for homebound older adults.
社会隔离和孤独在老年人中很常见，并与包括认知能力下降、抑郁、自杀意念和死亡率在内的负面健康结果相关。信息和通信技术干预措施常被用于对抗孤独和社会隔离；然而，居家的老年人面临着获取这些技术的障碍。本研究报告了一项名为“畅聊科技”的新型试点干预措施的研究结果，该措施旨在通过提供一对一的居家技术培训、一台平板电脑和互联网，以提高数字素养并促进参与虚拟老年中心，从而减少居家老年人的孤独感和社会隔离。
21名居家老年人参与了这个为期14周、由志愿者提供的项目。我们对参与者、志愿者和项目工作人员进行了定性访谈，收集了志愿者的每周进展报告，并对参与者进行了干预前和干预后的定量调查，以考察体验并评估该干预措施对孤独感和社会隔离的影响。定性数据采用内容分析法进行分析，并对干预前和干预后的调查数据进行了比较。
参与者报告称技术素养和使用能力有所提高，参与在线活动的机会增加，与现有和新网络的社交联系得到改善。此外，在访谈中，许多参与者表示参与“畅聊科技”减轻了他们的孤独感。虽然没有统计学意义，但我们的定量分析显示出参与者孤独感降低和技术使用增加的趋势。此外，干预措施的采用率和保留率很高，只有一名参与者退出了干预。
对新型“畅聊科技”试点干预措施的评估为减少老年人孤独感和隔离感的策略提供了关键见解，对未来的研究、政策和实践具有启示意义。研究结果表明，个性化的技术培训可能是改善居家老年人幸福感的一种可接受方式。
