Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA.
Department of Statistics, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA.
Aging Ment Health. 2024 Apr;28(4):638-645. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2023.2256271. Epub 2023 Sep 13.
Compared with younger and middle-aged adults, older adults are less likely to adopt new computer technology, potentially limiting access to healthcare and many other important resources available online. This limitation could impact cognitive abilities, well-being, and mental health outcomes of older adults. The aims of the present study were to increase access to online county and healthcare resources, while also assessing the impact of technology access on cognitive functioning and multiple well-being domains.
A pilot community collaboration provided a two-month tablet training intervention, focused on increasing digital independence tablet navigation, resources access, and fraud and scam prevention, to 20 low-income older adult participants (75% female, = 70.85). Pre- and post-test phone interviews were conducted to measure any changes in digital independence, cognitive abilities, well-being, mental health, and mindset.
Linear mixed effects models revealed no significant changes in outcome measures from pre- to post-test. However, we found effects of digital independence on several well-being measures, providing important information for the impact of technology access and training for low-income older adults.
This pilot intervention offers limited but promising results, inspiring further investigations that may inform public health and policy services to address barriers to access and potentially improve psychological health.
与年轻和中年成年人相比，老年人不太可能采用新的计算机技术，这可能会限制他们获取在线医疗保健和许多其他重要资源的机会。这种限制可能会影响老年人的认知能力、幸福感和心理健康状况。本研究旨在增加老年人对在线县和医疗保健资源的获取，同时评估技术获取对认知功能和多个幸福感领域的影响。
一项试点社区合作提供了为期两个月的平板电脑培训干预措施，重点是提高数字独立性——平板电脑导航、资源访问以及欺诈和诈骗预防，涉及 20 名低收入老年人参与者（75%为女性，年龄 = 70.85 岁）。在干预前后通过电话采访来衡量数字独立性、认知能力、幸福感、心理健康和思维模式方面的任何变化。
线性混合效应模型显示，从干预前到干预后的测试结果没有显著变化。然而，我们发现数字独立性对一些幸福感衡量标准有影响，为了解技术获取和培训对低收入老年人的影响提供了重要信息。
这项试点干预提供了有限但有希望的结果，激发了进一步的研究，这可能为公共卫生和政策服务提供信息，以解决获取障碍，并有可能改善心理健康。
