Internet access and use among adults aged 50 and over in Ireland: Results from Wave 5 of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing

Doody, Paul; Wang, Minjuan; Scarlett, Siobhán; Hever, Ann; O’Mahoney, Paul; Kenny, Rose Anne

doi:10.38018/tildare.2020-06

Cited by 6 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…This may have been a consequence of the reliance on social media. While >70% of Irish adults aged ≥50 years have internet access in their own homes, internet use declines with increased age, with social media use experiencing the largest age‐associated decline 47 . As data collection overlapped with the first national COVID‐19 lockdown in Ireland, it was not feasible to remedy this.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While >70% of Irish adults aged ≥50 years have internet access in their own homes, internet use declines with increased age, with social media use experiencing the largest age-associated decline. 47 As data collection overlapped with the first national COVID-19 lockdown in Ireland, it was not feasible to remedy this. Future research should look to develop strategies to optimize recruitment for BZRArelated research and explore the transferability of findings to older adults.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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‘I just thought that it was such an impossible thing’: A qualitative study of barriers and facilitators to discontinuing long‐term use of benzodiazepine receptor agonists using the Theoretical Domains Framework

Lynch

Ryan

Cadogan

2021

Health Expectations

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Introduction: Existing interventions to reduce long-term benzodiazepine receptor agonist (BZRA) use lack theoretical underpinning and detailed descriptions. This creates difficulties in understanding how interventions work and how to replicate them in practice. The Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) can be used to identify behaviour change determinants to target during intervention development. Objective: To explore barriers and facilitators to discontinuing BZRA use from the perspective of both current and previous long-term BZRA users. Design/Setting and Participants: Semistructured TDF-based interviews were conducted with community-based individuals with current or previous experience of long-term BZRA use. Data were recorded, transcribed and analysed using the framework method. Results: Twenty-eight individuals were interviewed. Despite commonalities in perceived barriers/facilitators to discontinuing BZRA use within individual TDF domains, individual participants had different experiences of identified determinants of BZRA discontinuation. For example, both similarities and differences existed within and between each participant group in terms of knowledge of the appropriate duration of BZRA use ('Knowledge' domain) and experience of withdrawal symptoms ('Reinforcement' domain). Compared to previous users, current users typically anticipated more barriers to discontinuing BZRA use and fewer positive consequences of discontinuation. Conclusion: This study reports on barriers and facilitators to discontinuing BZRA use from the perspectives of current and previous long-term users. The findings highlight the challenging nature of BZRA discontinuation and a multitude of barriers that impact participants' behaviour regarding BZRA use. Future work will involve developing a theorybased intervention to support BZRA discontinuation in primary care.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Strengths and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘I just thought that it was such an impossible thing’: A qualitative study of barriers and facilitators to discontinuing long‐term use of benzodiazepine receptor agonists using the Theoretical Domains Framework

Lynch

Ryan

Cadogan

2021

Health Expectations

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“…It is plausible that online socialising may not have the same benefits as in person. Additionally, internet access decreased with age and was lower among those living alone 39 . It is plausible that those who would have benefitted most from the option to socialise online were unable to do so.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…During the pandemic, people in Ireland aged ≥70 years were advised to stay indoors and avoid contact with friends and family, likely leading to an increase in online socialising among some participants. However, recent evidence from TILDA showed that 44% of adults aged 70+ years did not have internet access 39 . In this context it is not surprising that the majority of participants (59%) in the current study reported online socialising "not at all."…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between self-reported changes in physical activities and sedentary behaviors and changes in mental health during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: findings from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA)

et al. 2021

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Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and containment strategies employed to limit its spread have profoundly impacted daily life. Emerging evidence shows that mental health worsened compared to pre-pandemic trends. In this study, we examine associations of self-reported changes in physical activities and sedentary behaviors with mental health changes during the COVID-19 pandemic among older Irish adults. Methods: This study used data from Wave 5 (2018) and the COVID-19 study (July–November 2020) of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Depressive symptoms were measured using the 8-item Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale; Perceived stress, using the 4‐item Perceived Stress Scale. Participants reported perceived changes in participation in physical activities and sedentary behaviours before and after the outbreak of COVID-19. Linear regressions examined separate associations between changes in physical activities and sedentary behaviours and changes in perceived stress/depressive symptoms. Adjustment included demographics, body mass index, smoking, alcohol, chronic diseases and stress/depressive symptoms at Wave 5. Results: Among 2,645 participants (mean age, 68.2yrs; 56% female), 19.5% (95%CI: 18.2–20.9) reported clinically significant depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to before the pandemic, reduced and no exercise at home and walking were associated with increased depressive symptoms and stress. A reduction in home DIY (do it yourself) was also associated with both depression and stress while doing no DIY at all was associated with increased stress but not depressive symptoms (all p<.05). Reduced hobbies and reading were associated with higher depressive symptoms, and both reduced and increased screen time were associated with increased depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Greater decreases in mental health were seen among those who reported negative changes in their physical and sedentary activities. These findings have important implications for mental health care both as we transition back to normal life and for responses to future pandemics.

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“…More specific to members of LGBTQ+ communities, many may be reluctant to share opinions and personal stories with strangers on the internet [ 26 ]. Conversely, however, precisely because of the above-outlined conditions, they may rely particularly heavily on online communication and information to search for information, send and receive emails, browse the news and take audio and video calls [ 27 ]. Magee et al found similar ambivalent behaviors in their study of the information-seeking practices of LGBTQ+ youth, who displayed considerable interest in seeking sexual health information online but were concerned about stigma if they might be observed searching for information relating to LGBTQ+ or HIV topics [ 28 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disparities and resilience: analyzing online Health information provision, behaviors and needs of LBGTQ + elders during COVID-19

Fan

Gilliland

2022

BMC Public Health

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Background Prior studies indicate that older members of LGBTQ+ communities have specific health provision and health information needs related to coping with COVID-19, its long-term effects, and the social and economic impact of the pandemic. This study addresses the issue of a lack of timely, complete, and high-quality data about this population’s healthcare and healthcare information needs and behaviors. Recognizing also that this is a diverse population made up of multiple communities and identities with different concerns and experiences, this research seeks to develop and refine a method that can provide additional nuanced data and insights that can support improved and more closely targeted health interventions and online information provision. Methods We use computational discourse analysis, which is based on NLP algorithms, to build and analyze a digital corpus of online search results containing rich, wide-ranging content such as quotes and anecdotes from older members of LGBTQ+ communities as well as practitioners, advice, and recommendations from policymakers and healthcare experts, and research outcomes. In our analysis, we develop and apply an innovative disparities and resilience (D&R) framework to identify external and internal perspectives and understand better disparities and resilience as they pertain to this population. Results Results of this initial study support previous research that LGBTQ+ elders experience aggravated health and related social-economic disparities in comparison to the general population of older people. We also find that LGBTQ+ elders leverage individual toughness and community closeness, and quickly adapt mentally and technologically, despite inadequate social infrastructure for sharing health information and elders’ often low social economic status. The methods used therefore are able to surface distinctive resilience in the face of distinctive disparities. Conclusions Our study provides evidence that methodological innovation in gathering and analyzing digital data relating to overlooked, disparately affected, and socially and economically marginalized intersectional communities such as LGBTQ+ elders can result in increased external and self-knowledge of these populations. Specifically, it demonstrates the potential of computational discourse analysis to surface hidden and emerging issues and trends relating to a multi-faceted population that has important concerns about public exposure in highly timely and automated ways. It also points to the potential benefits of triangulating data gathered through this approach with data gathered through more traditional mechanisms such as surveys and interviews. Trial registration Not Applicable.

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Internet access and use among adults aged 50 and over in Ireland: Results from Wave 5 of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing

Cited by 6 publications

References 8 publications

‘I just thought that it was such an impossible thing’: A qualitative study of barriers and facilitators to discontinuing long‐term use of benzodiazepine receptor agonists using the Theoretical Domains Framework

‘I just thought that it was such an impossible thing’: A qualitative study of barriers and facilitators to discontinuing long‐term use of benzodiazepine receptor agonists using the Theoretical Domains Framework

Associations between self-reported changes in physical activities and sedentary behaviors and changes in mental health during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: findings from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA)

Disparities and resilience: analyzing online Health information provision, behaviors and needs of LBGTQ + elders during COVID-19

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