Use or Non-Use of Gerontechnology—A Qualitative Study

Abstract

This study employed a qualitative approach to explore the attitudes and experiences of older people towards using gerontechnology, and to determine the underlying reasons that might account for their use and non-use of gerontechnology. Four focus group discussions and 26 individual interviews were undertaken. Qualitative data were analyzed using NVivo software and were categorized using coding and grounded theory techniques. The result indicated that old people in Hong Kong had an overall positive attitude toward technology. Positive attitudes were most frequently related to enhanced convenience and advanced features. Negative attitudes were most frequently associated with health risks and social problems arising from using technology (e.g., social isolation and addiction). Usage of technology is driven by outcome expectations and social influences, and supported by facilitators, whereas non-use of gerontechnology relates to the personal (e.g., health and functional capacities), technological (e.g., cost and complexity), and environmental barriers experienced. Use of gerontechnology is a synthesis of person, technology, and environment. To encourage non-users to adopt technology, there is a need to remove barriers at personal, technological, and environmental levels.

Older adults and mobile technology: Factors that enhance and inhibit utilization in the context of behavioral health

“…Many adults now 50 and older utilized computers as a part of their employment [42]. These individuals demonstrate a level of comfort with new technology, while others without such experience do not [52,81,82]. For those without previous experience, utilizing new technologies may be foreign and daunting [52,83].…”

“…For those without previous experience, utilizing new technologies may be foreign and daunting [52,83]. A lack of knowledge about: technology jargon, why automatic software updates occur, and skills to solve problems as they occur (ranging from "blue screen" to viruses) contribute to older adults feeling frustrated and out of control [36,52].…”

“…Older adults may also avoid technology when they have little selfconfidence about learning something new [9,52,88]. Two qualitative studies [52,89] using focus groups and individual interviews of 63 older adults revealed that participants perceived themselves as too old to learn certain technologies [52].…”

“…Utilizing Chen and Chan's (2013) [52] model, we discuss three types of factors influencing older adults' access and motivation to use technology: personal, technical, and environmental.…”

“…Table 1 shows a majority of older adults owned a cell phone in 2013 [39]. Among adults 65 and older, cell phones are most often used for the calling/voice feature [49][50][51], and depending on the sample, calendars, emailing and text messaging are the next most commonly used features [50,[52][53][54]. Individuals 50 and older use their smartphones primarily for text-messaging, internet access, phone/voice features, and email [44].…”