Attitudes towards aging and the acceptance of ICT for aging in place

Abstract

Facing the demographic developments in the Western world, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) designed to support older people can represent a promising approach for the overloaded health care systems. Most older adults prefer to age in place in their home environment. Assistive ICT can support older adults in staying independent, connected, and healthy and provide help in emergency situations. However, older adults represent a special group regarding the use of ICT: they are still often less experienced and cautious in adapting new technologies. Correspondingly, acceptance poses the greatest barrier for the success of assistive ICT. Older adults are not a homogeneous group, they differ in their experience with technologies, attitudes towards aging, and ideas for quality of life. In a questionnaire approach, N = 166 participants’ attitudes towards aging and evaluation of two examples of ICT are assessed. The analysis shows, that technology generations differ in their opinions about aging as well as their assessment of assistive ICT. Attitude towards aging, gender, education, health status, and other attitudes form a multifaceted picture of influences on the acceptance.