Health Technology Use in Germany Among Older Adults (Part I): Short Time Changes in Information and Communication Technology

Abstract

The technology use of older people is marked by stigmas. Whether in literature, films or even in science, the narrative of older people who cannot manage the simplest clicks and handles is omnipresent. Independent information search? Unrealistic - children and grandchildren are rather called for help. What if they no longer have a landline but only a cell phone? How should they be served? - But what does it look like in reality? Is this view, which has existed for decades, outdated? Should it not give way to a new narrative? It is the focus of a longitudinal study, concentrating on the usage of information and communication technology (ICT) by the elderly (older people) (60+) in Germany. This study, conducted by the interdisciplinary research team Tech4Age, consists of two surveys from 2016/2017 (survey I) and 2018/2019 (survey II). The article presents the results of the second survey by comparing both surveys as well as potential changes. The sample consisted of N = 649 participants (54.6% male and 45.4% female) with an average age of 66.11 years (SD = 5.45 years). A fundamental aspect of both surveys was to examine use of health-related information and levels of trust, general and mHealth applications used by older adults as well as information and communication technology used by older adults. Due to larger scopes of the surveys and their results, the latter will be presented in two separate articles. This paper focuses on the third aspect: the information and communication technology used by older adults. An essential aspect of survey II was to examine the integration of information and communication technologies (ICT) of older and very old citizens. While survey I of 2016/2017 [1] was still based on preliminary studies (for example [2, 3]), survey II of 2018/2019 was based on a more in-depth analysis [4–6]. Overall, it showed that these main questions were of importance: (1) How is ICT used among older adults and what are reasons for technology acquisition? (2) If ICT is used, who administrates ICT products? (3) Do older adults use the Internet and if so, when? (4) Which everyday activities do older adults perform with the help of ICT? The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the results, focusing especially on the use of Information and communication technology. Results suggest that respondents of survey II integrate ICT into their daily lives, using devices as computers, smartphones and also navigation systems or e-book readers. Reasons for usage are to communicate and out of practical reasons or curiosity. Additionally, participants use the Internet at home as well as mobile Internet ranging from 15 min up to more than two hours daily.