Internet-Based Medical Service Use and Eudaimonic Well-Being of Urban Older Adults: A Peer Support and Technology Acceptance Model

Abstract

Currently, internet services are developing rapidly, and the relationship between specific types of internet services and the well-being of older adults is still unclear. This study took a total of 353 urban older adults aged 60 years and above as research objects to explore the impact of the use behavior toward internet-based medical services (IBMS) on their well-being through an online questionnaire. This study integrated well-being theory and peer support theory, constructed an extended structural equation model of technology acceptance based on the technology acceptance model (TAM), and analyzed the variable path relationship. The results confirm the proposed model: older adults improved their eudaimonic well-being through using IBMS; perceived usefulness significantly affected the older adults’ attitudes towards IBMS; perceived ease of use significantly affected the use of IBMS through mediation; peer support significantly affected older adults’ attitudes, willingness, actual use, and well-being in the process. This study proposes that facilitating IBMS use for older adults in the development and design of internet technology programs should be considered in order to provide them with benefits. Moreover, paying attention to peer support among older adults plays an important role in the acceptance of new technologies and improving their well-being. The “peer support” of this study expanded and contributed to the research on the impact on older adults’ well-being and the construction of a technology acceptance model. The peer support in this study extended the influence factor of eudaimonic well-being and contributed to the further development of the TAM.

Adaptación del Modelo de Aceptación de Tecnologías para Explorar las Intenciones de Uso en la Educación Virtual

“…Por lo que las Condiciones Facilitadoras para los estudiantes no solo serían las institucionales y de soporte técnicos (Hanham et al, 2021;Teo, 2012), sino también los pares y docentes con conocimiento tecnológico, quienes también podrían brindar soporte en el uso de tecnologías en la interacción y colaboración (Galvis & Carvajal, 2022;. Esto es coherente con investigaciones que encuentran una correlación e influencia del soporte social sobre la aceptación de tecnologías (Jun et al, 2021;Kamin et al, 2020;Li et al, 2021;Sykes et al, 2009;Zhu & Cheng, 2022). Por ello, cuanto más soporte percibido de pares y docentes con conocimiento tecnológico en un entorno educativo, mayores percepciones de Utilidad y Facilidad de Uso de tecnologías tendrá un universitario, las cuales probablemente terminará internalizando por la concepción de sus pares y docentes como otros significativos (Dai et al, 2021;Huang et al, 2020).…”

“…Futuras investigaciones podrían profundizar su estudio considerando una perspectiva multidimensional del concepto (Huang et al, 2020). De manera similar, si bien el concepto de Condiciones facilitadoras ha estado asociado al soporte institucional (Taylor & Todd, 1995;Teo, 2012;Venkatesh & Bala, 2008), ulteriores estudios pueden incluir al soporte social como otra dimensión del concepto, o analizarlo de manera independiente dada su influencia en la aceptación de tecnologías (Jun et al, 2021;Kamin et al, 2020;Li et al, 2021;Sykes et al, 2009;Zhu & Cheng, 2022).…”

Application and Challenges of the Technology Acceptance Model in Elderly Healthcare: Insights from ChatGPT

“…TAM has been suggested to be equally relevant in investigating the acceptance of technologies fostering social connectedness among the elderly, such as video calling applications or social networking platforms [2,24,33,[57][58][59]. In the realm of health education, TAM has been found to aid in evaluating the adoption of online platforms providing health information tailored for the elderly population [1,10,[60][61][62]84]. Moreover, TAM can be utilized to understand how elderly individuals perceive continuous health monitoring systems, including sensors and IoT devices, in their homes or healthcare facilities [9,31,32,37,39,63].…”

Examining Engagement and Usability in an Online Discussion Platform for Older Adults

“…4,9 Technology Acceptance Model seeks to explain how users' attitudes and beliefs influence their acceptance or rejection of technology. [10][11][12] Aside from usability, it is also important to consider user experience and user engagement in digital health interventions. [13][14][15] Broadly defined, user experience can be defined as the experience a user has with technology, 16 whereas user engagement is the quality of that experience.…”

“…For example, MOLD-US identifies four main categories of aging-related barriers to mHealth usability: physical abilities (eg, hand-eye coordination), perception (eg, visual acuity), cognition (eg, working memory, dynamic/selective attention, reasoning), and motivation (eg, trust in own ability, computer literacy) 4,9 . Technology Acceptance Model seeks to explain how users' attitudes and beliefs influence their acceptance or rejection of technology 10–12 …”