Jockey Club Institute of Ageing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
Institute of Health Equity, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2023 Dec;115:105225. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2023.105225. Epub 2023 Oct 7.
Previous research has identified numerous benefits of information and communication technology (ICT) on the well-being of older adults. However, it has been increasingly recognized that older adults do not necessarily catch up with the rapidly digitalized society, known as the 'age-based digital divide'. The progress of digitalization has been accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have widened the digital divide. This study aimed to gain a better understanding of their living experience and concerns about digital exclusion during the pandemic. The perceptions of older adults in Hong Kong, a highly digitalized, metropolitan city, towards the digital age and its impact on their daily living during the COVID-19 pandemic were explored.
We conducted 12 focus group interviews with 77 community-dwelling older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, applying both organization, reduction, and refinement.
Four themes were identified: 1) Diversified means to access community information; 2) Facilitated daily living through the usage of ICTs; 3) Concerns about age-related decline in function; and 4) Fear of digital exclusion and accelerated digitalization during the pandemic. The results indicate that ICT provided numerous benefits to the daily life of older adults, but our participants also expressed concerns about age-related losses and the fear of digital exclusion due to the ongoing digitalization of society.
Our findings indicated that older adults do not necessarily benefit from technological innovations, which are becoming more pervasive during the pandemic. To create age-friendly environments that cater to the needs of all members of society in the digital age, policymakers and service providers should provide diverse choices for older adults, rather than relying solely on one-size-fits-all technological solutions.
先前的研究已经确定了信息和通信技术（ICT）对老年人福祉的诸多益处。然而，人们越来越认识到，老年人不一定能跟上快速数字化的社会，即所谓的“基于年龄的数字鸿沟”。数字化的发展在 COVID-19 大流行期间加速，这可能扩大了数字鸿沟。本研究旨在更好地了解他们在大流行期间的生活体验和对数字排斥的担忧。探讨了香港高度数字化的大都市老年人对数字时代及其对 COVID-19 大流行期间日常生活影响的看法。
我们在 COVID-19 大流行期间对 77 名社区居住的老年人进行了 12 次焦点小组访谈。使用主题分析对数据进行分析，采用组织、减少和细化的方法。
确定了四个主题：1）多样化的社区信息获取途径；2）通过使用 ICT 促进日常生活；3）对与年龄相关的功能下降的关注；4）对大流行期间数字排斥和加速数字化的恐惧。结果表明，ICT 为老年人的日常生活提供了诸多好处，但我们的参与者也对与年龄相关的损失以及由于社会的持续数字化而对数字排斥的恐惧表示担忧。
我们的研究结果表明，老年人不一定受益于技术创新，而这些创新在大流行期间变得更加普遍。为了在数字时代创建适合社会所有成员需求的友好环境，政策制定者和服务提供者应为老年人提供多样化的选择，而不是仅仅依赖一刀切的技术解决方案。
