Attitudes & barriers of
elderly Mainland
Chinese towards
using electronic
technologies
Main Subject area:Informatics
Author:Jinbo Zhou & Zihao He
Supervisor: Domina Robert Kiunsi JÖNKÖPING:February, 2021
This final thesis has been carried out at the School of Engineering at Jönköping University within [see main field on previous page]. The authors are responsible for the presented opinions, conclusions and results.
Examiner: Ulf Seigerroth
Supervisor: Domina Robert Kiunsi Scope: 15 hp (first-cycle education) Date: 2021-05-25
Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of the study is to explore attitude of elderly from the Mainland China towards use of electronic technologies. The aim of the study further exceeds to evaluate the barriers faced by elderly in using electronic technologies.
Method
The proposed method for the research is qualitative research, comprising of open-ended, semi-structured interviews with elderly in mainland China to gain deeper understanding and insights about their attitude towards electronic technologies. In addition to that, literature review has been conducted extensively which refers to theoretical frameworks which substantiate the purpose of the study.
Findings
The thematic analysis was carried out based on three research questions in this research. The results show that almost 10 participants hold similar thoughts that they would keep using the technology even if they find it a bit cumbersome. Moreover, some elderly are at a loss when they face internet or online tools, such as online transfer or registration. Some elderly need assistance when they are exposed to new technology in their daily or work life. Despite that, the elderly do not ask the designer to consider them during the product development. Instead, the elderly would chase technology and seek help from customer service, family members, or neighbors when facing any difficulties.
Implications
It was identified from the analysis that most of the elderly people were very well acquainted with the cell phone and the most widely used technological use included doing phone calls, texting, video calling and watching Television. The professionals used a bit advanced technology for performing their work and educated elderly people used to increase their knowledge base through communication. The issues regarding any electronic devises were managed through customer cares, neighbor help or kids help. This research is a contribution to technology developers for making simple and user-friendly gadgets keeping elderly people in consideration.
The limitation of this research is that very limited number of responses were collected. Also, the diversified elderly people sample cannot generate aligned result but a very generic result. The professionals were comfortable with basic technologies and found issues in work-related electronic devices whereas some struggled to operate daily use devises like TV set top box, cell phone functions, hearing aid issues, etc. This gave a guidance for future scope of increasing the sample size, doing purposive sampling based on different occupations.
Table of content
Abstract...ii
Table of content...iv
1 Introduction...1
1.1.1 Acceptance of Technology by Elders...2
1.1.2 Causes for Rejection of Technology amongst Elders...4
1.1.3 Problem statement... 5
1.2 PURPOSE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS... 6
1.3 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS... 6
1.4 DISPOSITION...6
2 Method and implementation...8
2.1 RESEARCHAPPROACH... 8 2.2 DATACOLLECTION...8 2.2.1 Sampling...9 2.2.2 Interview Design... 9 2.3 DATAANALYSIS... 10 2.4 ETHICALCONSIDERATIONS...10
2.5 VALIDITY ANDRELIABILITY...11
3 Theoretical framework... 11
3.1 LINK BETWEEN THEORY AND RESEARCH...11
3.2 ATTITUDE...12
3.3.1 Overview of Internet Usage amongst elders... 12
3.3.2 Attitudes of elders regarding games...13
3.3.3 Attitudes amongst elders for robots...14
3.3.4 Attitudes of elders towards health care devices... 15
3.3.5 Use of Gadgets amongst elders... 16
3.3.6 Convenience of elders for Smart home technologies...17
4 EMPIRICAL DATA...18
4.1 COLLECTED DATA...19 4.2 DATA ANALYSIS...215 Discussion... 33
5.1 RESULT DISCUSSION...33 5.2 LIMITATION...356 Conclusions and further research... 36
6.1 CONCLUSIONS... 36 6.1.1 Practical implications... 36 6.1.2 Scientific implication...37 6.2 FURTHER RESEARCH... 38
7 References... 40
8 Appendixes...47
APPENDIX1 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS...47
1
Introduction
The United Nations (2019) report informs that there are 703 million people in the world are of age 65 years and above and is estimated to double to 1.5 billion in 2050. Among the total world population about 9% of the people are above the age 65. With the increase in the elderly being there would be 16% of elderly people worldwide (United Nations, 2019). This significant figure has been attained due to the decrease in mortality risks and increase in health, activities and other socioeconomic characteristics (United Nations, 2016). It reflects that a higher number of adults are being exposed to the new technologies. The older adults are called upon to become accustomed to new technology and the demands of the contemporary world (Anderson & Perrin, 2017a). Technology has become a streamline for routine activities. Technology has the opportunity to assist older individuals in their day-to-day tasks like financial planning, easy accomplishment of household and office tasks and connecting with the dear ones. Technology has made the life of elders easy, comfortable and convenient. It has raised the stand of living of the seniors (Geraedts et al., 2014). Therefore, this research seeks to understand the attitude and usage of elderly with these new technological advancements.
The research informs that the number of elders using the internet are 41% in the UK and 64% in the US. Though, 44% of the aged people have never accessed the internet and just 28% of them have opted for home broadband services (Hazlegreaves, 2018). Also, number of the elder users are reliant on the technological availability and the development of the country. The statistics inform that France has 48%, Belgium has 35%, Germany has 29.6%, Canada has 53.4%, Japan has 48% consumers who use the internet on a daily basis. Mobile has become the most convenient and essential gadget of the present time. People are also found to make payments through digital media. In the UK, almost 55% of elders use the technology for payment. The pay service facilitates the elders to make payment with one click. Social media has become very familiar with the elders too. In the UK 21%, in the US 26%, in Germany 9%, in France and Italy 13%, in Canada 25% of elder people use the social sites and media for news (Hazlegreaves, 2018). The information indicates that in the developed countries more than half of the older individuals are using internet technology while a lesser number of users are observed in the lesser developed countries. The above information reveals that a large number of elders are not using the internet in most of the countries (Hazlegreaves, 2018).
Ownership of smart phones among elders
Source: (Linkage Connect, 2019)
The innovation of telecommunication-smartphone users among the seniors have surged drastically. It has become a must have personal belonging for all the elders to connect with their friends and families. The chart reflects the ownership of the smart phones among the senior age groups. The chart reflects decline of engagement of elders with increase in age. There are two main aspects discovered about the attitude of elders towards technology as discussed below.
1.1.1 Acceptance of Technology by Elders
Source: (Anderson & Perrin, 2017)
The above chart also agrees with the data and informs discussed before, that since the last five years extensive adoption of technology has been examined. Higher number of adults are surfing the internet and social media platforms and getting possession of technological devices like smartphones and tablets.
It has been studied that elderly people possess technological skills and are potential to access the smart phones, use Skype and have their own profiles on the social networking sites. The internet has become an integral part of the lives of people all over the world. It is quite astonishing that almost 70% of the older people in many advanced countries like the US are connected to the internet. The advanced devices have become an important part of their routine lives. They rely on the technology for shopping, planning, information and connecting with family and friends. In fact, it is examined that older adults are more dependent on technology (Anderson & Perrin, 2017). The study infers that the major segment of the older adults is learning and accessing the internet but 30% of them are not interested in the usage of the new technologies.
Smart home technological products deliver peace of mind for consumers as they make their life easy and independent (Linkage Connect, 2019). The screen time of the elders have increased. The older look for technology to spend their leisure time on TV, computer, tablets or other electronic devices. A report by Intriago (2019), informs that employed individuals above 65 spend around three hour a day watching television while unemployed individuals spend almost five hours daily watching television. Hence the report reflects that the home appliances like television, washing machines, phones and computers are exceedingly used by the elders.
Health & Wellness Technologies are also being used by many old adults. These appliances help the individuals to maintain their health and wellness. The consumer can measure and maintain the levels of diabetes, pressure, heart beat etc. These gadgets must be designed for easy operations for the elders. This would encourage the use of the health and wellness technologies among the elders.
Benefits of technology
The graph projects various benefits that the elders can attain by the use of technology. New technology provides timely involvement in maintaining a healthy and independent life, and hence surged the quality of life. Technology would facilitate independent living (Geraedts et al., 2014). Technologies like Alexa can also be helpful to visually impaired people and individuals experiencing tremors. The individual can perform the task just by speaking without relying on someone for assistance. This implies that using technology would deliver an easier, convenient and better life to the elders. The advanced technology surges the standard of living of the higher age group.
Forbes (Jefferson, 2019), reported that older adults are highly embracing technology. They are also accepting high-tech wearable gadgets to manage their health, screen magnification, talk to text and home robots to help them with their routine lives. Many elders purchase laptops, smartphones and tablets, but do not feel confident in using them.
1.1.2 Causes for Rejection of Technology amongst Elders
All the discussion so far conveyed that there has been an increase in the number of elders using technological appliances. The data informs that almost half of the seniors have adapted technology, but the data also infers that half of them have not accepted the technology. There are several reasons for this rejection of technology by the elders. Key causes are considered below.
Most of the older people seek help in the operation of a new device. Only a few elders feel confident in the use of the internet. It has been found that approximately 50% of the people above the age of 65 require someone to assist them in learning and using new technology. Hence, frustration seems to be a barrier that leads to decrease of confidence and desire to use the technology (Anderson & Perrin, 2017a). Hence it can be understood that lack of familiarity with the technological operations and terminology barricades the older ones to accept technology.
The elders also fear to make mistakes and their anxiety about their social responsibility keeps them away from technology. Some also find the use of the online tools time consuming and difficult and also feel strenuous to compare the websites and gain expertise. They find insufficient knowledge to use online tools and therefore lack confidence in its use. The robust inclination towards social responsibilities also barricades the elders to adapt the online technologies. They worry about the fact that the business of the local service is threatened by the excessive use of online shopping. They also fear the loss of jobs due to the advanced technologies. One major issue with the elders in context to technology is fear for social isolation. They would prefer to meet face to face and shop in a physical store instead of the online services. The physical visit would save them from loneliness and isolation (Science Daily, 2018).
The elders fear the devices to be security and privacy threats. They find technology capable of invading personal and financial security. Moreover, the adoption of technology is also dependent on the age, educational level and the financial condition of the person. People with higher disposable income are observed to possess mobiles (Anderson & Perrin, 2017a). Yet many adults face age related physical and cognitive challenges in the operation of digital technology. Decline in the visual clarity and the small reading fonts in the screen devices act as an obstruction in higher engagement of the elders with the smart phones and other such devices (World Economic Forum, 2019). Hence, the discussion informs that there are several reasons for the rejection of technology. Yet, the devices with easy operations and familiarity can increase the usability of technology. Various studies have been conducted to discuss and inform about the attitude of elderly towards electronic technologies. However, studies portraying differences in traits of their usage and attitude depending upon their geographical environment have not been discussed. This study proposes to fulfill this research gap by seeking the differences in attitude and usage of electronic technologies by elders in developed countries like UK, USA etc(secondary data) developing countries like China(first hand data) and least developed countries such as Bangladesh and Nepal.
1.1.3 Problem statement
Currently, elderly attitude towards technology has remained a debatable issue as it differs on the basis of various demographic, gender profiles, education and social lifestyle(Cai, Z et al 2017; Sitar-Taut et al 2018; Esposito et al 2019). The research information in Charter 1 indicates that the observed data of elderly is centralized in developed countries(Anderson & Perrin, 2017; Hazlegreaves, 2018; Linkage Connect, 2019) while less figures of elderly are researched in the lesser developed countries. China is not only the country with the large population, but also China is one of the countries with the fastest aging population(Lu, J., & Liu, Q. 2019). But as yet, China has not been given much attention in terms of the study on intentions of older towards technology. From 1950 to 2019, the average life expectancy in China has increased to 76.9 years and the fertility rate has declined to 1.79 per child per woman(United Nation, 2019). As a result, the study aimed to investigate the intentions towards the use of technology by elderly and the influence of technologies brought to elderly in Mainland China, it has the potential to bring valuable and practical data to research filed.
Moreover, the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic and lock-down condition has surged the use of technology as people were unable to go out physically. This has sped up the adoption of technology as consumers have leaped towards online channels for shopping, food delivery, binge-watching and video calling (McKinsey, 2020). This opportunity might also enlarge difficulties of utilizing technologies for elderly.
Therefore, the study will also articulate this aspect. Specifics such as attitudes, barriers and their responses towards using technology, especially during the time of Covid-19 pandemic will be analyzed through this study.
1.2 Purpose and research questions
The purpose of the study is to identify and evaluate the attitudes and barriers of elderly Mainland Chinese regarding using of electronic technologies, and then give recommendations for the useful ways help them using technologies.
For this, following research questions have been proposed:
Q1: What are their attitudes towards using electronic technologies?
This research question adheres with the technologies indulging daily lives of people with convenience, especially after Covid-19 lockdown.
Q2: What are the barriers faced by elderly in using electronic technologies?
These will be considered on the basis of various aspects such as education, work, lifestyle and their interests.
Q3: What are the assistance encourage elderly in using technology?
This question will address the recommendations which can help facilitating their lifestyle with the use of electronic technology.
In analysis and discussion will be conducted in context of these research questions.
1.3 Scope and limitations
The study focuses on the elder age group. The study would examine the transformation and the level of adoption of technology by the elders. The elders from Mainland China have been taken into consideration for primary research. This have been considered as it will be convenient for data collection. Whereas, secondary information about the elders from USA, Japan, India, Bangladesh and Nepal will also be considered. These countries have been chosen on the basis of technological advancements and their progress with it. The study would consider the factors such as age, education level and life style of the consumer. However, the study does not cover the cultural factor of the country to use the electronics. The study is limited to above mentioned factors only.
1.4 Disposition
Five chapters construct the thesis.
Chapter 1 - Introduction describes an overview of the thesis topic, which including the data of aging population, acceptance and rejection of technology by elders, it brings to readers a preliminary understanding of the field covered by the thesis.
Chapter 2 - Methodology based on introduction which elicits the research questions, the approach to realize the research.
Chapter 3 - Theoretical Framework discusses in-depths with related theoretical backgrounds. It reviews, compares previous works and researches.
Chapter 4 - Empirical Data reports the first hand data that has been collected according to the research methods outline in Chapter 2.
Chapter 5 - Analysis analyzes the final results of the research. It answers the research questions and give a conclusion of the study.
2
Method and implementation
This chapter encompasses the synopsis of methodological approach adopted for conducting the proposed research. The method for conducting the study, data collection and data analysis has been elaborated here. Rationale of choosing each method has been provided. Ethical considerations have also been discussed in this chapter.
The main aim for conducting this study is to analyze the attitude of elderly towards use of technology. Therefore, the methodology has been induced in context to the research questions and purpose of the study.
2.1 Research Approach
The research approach deals with the planning and progress of the research. It directs the method of data collection and data interpretation. Amongst qualitative, quantitative and mixed research, qualitative research approach has been chosen for the analysis. In quantitative research, sample size is bigger so the results can be generalized. But it is merely meant for proving facts. In this study, research is being conducted to explore the attitude of elderly towards use of technology, which is not confined to a questionnaire. The qualitative research does not support larger sample size but it allows to find about the topic with depth and meaningful logistics. Therefore, to get detailed insights about the attitude and barriers of elderly and derive their acquaintance with technology qualitative research approach has been chosen. It will further help in developing a relationship between theories proposed in the past and observations recorded in the data analysis for better understanding and knowledge about the digital competencies of elderly.
2.2 Data Collection
As detailed in the Introduction chapter, the gap in literature exists. Adequate evaluation on attitudes and reasoning regarding their habits concerned with use of technology has not been conducted. Technology will certainly put their lives at ease therefore, the barriers which elderly people have been facing in using technology need to be examined. Therefore, interview will be a suitable mode for data collection to gain detailed insights about their habits, preferences and notions (Hammarberg et al., 2016).
Our aim of the study is to find out the reasons behind optimistic or pessimistic attitude of elderly for using technology. Real-time data collection through interviews will enhance understanding and perception regarding the benefits and constraints faced by elderly people in using technology.
2.2.1 Sampling
Since Covid-19 pandemic makes it difficult to reach people, snowball sampling technique will be used for the data collection. Purposive sampling is required in this research so that the generalization of attitude of elderly towards technology can be enhanced. Therefore rather than random selection, purposive snowball sampling will be conducted for the elderly in this study. It is also to confirm that the participants belong to different background in context of work & education so that different views and habits can be apprehended. This is conducted as snowball sampling helps in communicating with a chain of participants that belongs to a certain group of society which can help narrow down the scope of research and gain different perspectives from participants belonging to same group.
According to the report Defining health and aging from WHO, WHO defined that the age group of elderly (old persons) is at 65 years plus, sometimes including 60 years old plus(World Health Organization, 2011). The qualitative nature of the study and research questions demands a participants from the age group of above 60 years to meet the purpose of the study. Commencing the snowball sampling with relatives around firstly due to the researchers are familiar with their ages. Prior to the interview, the communication about ages and experience of using any technologies with objects will be held in order to validate if these objects are in line with research requirements after they willingly participate in this research.
After interviewing with relatives, the researchers then invite them to provide some other interview objects that belong to the target group under this study, such as friends or brothers of the same age. This action motivates the researcher to collect more extra interviewees diving into the interview.
2.2.2 Interview Design
As qualitative interviews are meant for the collecting the thoughts shared by interviewees, analyze their perceptions and read in between the lines, first-hand information is needed about experiences of interviewees. A semi-structured interview is developed with few open-ended questions to allow the participants share their beliefs and tendencies (Baškarada & Koronios, 2018). Amongst the structured, unstructured and semi-structured interview designs, the latter is selected as it helps in giving a direction to the interview while also allowing the participants to share their thoughts which might not be direct answers but they could help in marking useful observations of their attitudes.
The interview questions are framed such that they suffice the research questions. However, they are not literal replication of research questions but they are proposed such that their pieces put together will help in visualizing the final picture. 10
participants will be interviewed, with the aged above 60 years old. Interview will be conducted as individual interview by the form of online chat or video. The interview question see appendix 1.
2.3 Data Analysis
The data collected through semi-structured interviews will be analyzed using the method for thematic analysis under inductive qualitative research. The method comprises of eliminating out the biases in the perspectives of the researcher and instituting predominant aspects from the data (Baškarada & Koronios, 2018). Organic research within the recorded interviews will help in seeking commonalities in the patterns of responses, thereby aiding development of themes. In order to detect and consider misinterpretations, it is inevitable to take concept as well as situation being shared in the interviews as this will affect the interpretations. Once the attitudinal and psychological responses are taken into account, using experience differences amongst the responses will be pondered upon. According to Joffe, H,“verbal interview (or focus group) data or textual newspaper data tend to be at the root of thematic research”(Joffe, H. 2012). Also, thematic analysis able to address many types of research questions, from the question about people practices and to the question about representatives(Clarke, V., & Braun, V. 2014).
Documentation and transcription of the interview context are required in order to conduct thematic analysis. The approach be utilized to record the interview is intelligent verbatim transcription in this study, it allows transcriber to record the transcription in a certain amount of discretion. The core of intelligent verbatim transcription is extract the irrelevant words to the theme, such as laughter, junk words, but transcript the main ideas and insights from interviewees. This particular method which able to improve the readability of the analysis, and it helps to capture individual emotions and beliefs by coding the transcriptions.
2.4 Ethical Considerations
The data collection through interviews for the research have been conducted only after the consent of participants. Confidentiality in recording data has been promised along with anonymity (Saunders et al., 2014). Their participation in the interviews was completely voluntary and schedule of their interview sessions along with the brief idea about the research was shared with them in prior. The interviews of participants belonging to China were taken in native language, translation of which was done later on. Laddering strategies were adopted during the interview to obtain optimum richness in the answers of respondents (Aurini et al., 2016). Moreover, due to present
pandemic conditions, most of the people have been staying at home and using technology as they were unable to meet people socially. Therefore, the change in their attitudes in recent times might influence the data, which is one of the limitations of the study. To overcome that though, perceptions before Covid-19 outbreak and post pandemic were also questioned.
2.5 Validity and Reliability
Validity and reliability are two fundamental concept that help to evaluate the quality of a research. The reliability which indicates the rationality of the research methods, and the validity refers to the accuracy of the findings (Mohajan, H. K. 2017).
This paper had used the knowledge which adhered the peer-reviewed theory and academic research, like acceptance and intentions of various technologies by elders. In addition, the appropriate methods of measurement, data collection and sampling methods are important for constructing validity. As mentioned, qualitative research methods and thematic analysis are selected in this study. Interview method allows participants to address their thought freely, the information described from participants is more accurate than questionnaire, it also can reduces human error(Louise Barriball, K., et al 1994; Jamshed S. 2014). Finally, prior approval duly received from respondents before interview to ensure that biased answers were not existed in the final results.
Furthermore, Appropriate legal regulations and ethical consideration also bring validity and reliability to research. This research follows General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) guidelines, involved use of data in this study will only for academic purpose, and respondents information from demographic question will keep confidential.
3
Theoretical framework
3.1 Link between theory and research
Advanced technology has drastically transformed the lives of people. New and innovative devices have gradually become an inevitable part of the lifestyle. The developers are creating better and efficient gadgets that make life easy and independent. There are several barriers and facilitating aspects that influence the attitude of the technology. In this chapter, for gaining a better understanding of aspects that are affecting the attitudes of the seniors, the prior understanding of 'attitude' is essential. The introduction of 'Attitudes' helps to comprehend how elderly users around the world feel, think and react to technology. In addition to that, the
literature review also helps to understand and learn the guidelines, appropriate approach of how to proceeding the research on attitude towards technology.
3.2 Attitude
An attitude is an evaluation of an object, ranging from the mundane to the abstract; It also refers to emotions, feelings and behaviors to an object(Bohner, G., & Dickel, N. 2011). In general, attitude objects comprise anything, people, groups, and ideas(Bohner, G., & Dickel, N. 2011). Most studies on the attitude towards technology often focus on how users feel and why individuals have such feelings or beliefs toward electronic technology. Communicating the experience of electronic technology with users, then side description of users behaviors. There are related literature discovered about the attitudes of elderly users towards different technologies are as follows.
3.3 Study on the attitude and usage of elderly towards electronic technology
3.3.1 Overview of Internet Usage amongst elders
Pan and Jordan-Marsh (2010), discussed several intertwining factors that influence the acceptance of the Internet by elderly groups by application of TAM. The main predictors were perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norm, and facilitating conditions and the moderating factor were age and gender. The results informed that usefulness, easy to use and subjective norms were the important predictor of internet acceptance by the senior Chinese. The intention to accept the internet in some elder adults was found even higher than the young adults. This study reflects the willingness of adults to accept the developing technology among the elder people. Gender differences did not show any major difference in the adaptation of the internet. The male users were higher in number than female users, but the difference was very negligible. This implies that there is a shrinkage in the gender gap in context to the internet use. Age did not have any influence on the result. On the contrary, the internet would offer them information, entertainment and social networking, which would prove to be very supportive in overcoming the negative impact of retirement. In fact, use of the internet could add productivity and self-efficiency to their lives. Ramón-Jerónimo, Peral-Peral and Arenas-Gaitán (2013) pursued an investigation to check the intentions of elders of Spain towards adoption of Internet use. However, the author has observed low levels of internet usage in the country and tries to find the barriers and facilitators. The outcomes of the experiment were contradictory to the results of previous papers. The women found perceived ease of use as significant criteria for acceptance while men found perceived usefulness as a significant criterion for acceptance. The result exhibited a unique gender difference for the elder internet users. The conclusion also informed that males perceived higher enjoyment levels due
to the familiarity and ease of use with technology. This study reflects preference of dissimilar features between male and female to approve the internet.
Niehaves and Plattfaut (2014) examined the impact of the internet on the elderly people using four alternative models founded on two technology acceptance theories (Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and Model of Adoption of Technology in Households (MATH). UTAUT was constructed by combining eight unique but similar theories to describe technology acceptance. While MATH was constructed to describe adoption of technology in homes. The conclusion showed that UTAUT and MATH were efficient to explicate more than 70% of the variance in Internet adoption intention. The result expressed that age, gender income and education had an immense impact on the adoption of the Internet. This implies that the number of users can be surged by offering easy to use operation and implication of cost effectiveness. The study revealed high potential of the acceptance of the internet users among the elder folks.
3.3.2 Attitudes of elders regarding games
Dogruel, L., Joeckel, S., & Bowman, N. D. (2015) implemented the TAM framework to examine the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) among the elderly people. The model was extended and developed to find the use of entertainment linked to new media technology by ageing adults. The perception of TAM was expanded by including elements that support or obstruct technology acceptance namely, technophobia, self-efficacy and previous experience and expertise with technology. The study covered the use of 3D cinema and computer games among the elders of Germany and the US. The research revealed that socio-demographic variables like age and gender did not have any influence on acceptance. The results informed that the elders do not use the new media because they are old but they suffer from higher levels of technophobia and lack the expertise skills or past involvement with the innovative media. Perceived ease of usage is observed as a prerequisite for enjoyment. This implies that better system design that encourages the elders to overcome the barriers might result in higher adoption of entertainment media products. The research conducted by Wang, Q., & Sun, X. (2016), examined the gameplay intentions of oldsters with the construction of extended TAM framework. The study had a divergent result in comparison to the research pursued by Dogruel, L., Joeckel, S., & Bowman, N. D. (2015). The study discovered that narration of the game, social interaction and physical condition of the older adult had major influence on the game intention while age, gender and prior experience had moderate influence on the game intention. This implies that innovative games that comprise physical activities and social interaction could become a good source of entertainment particularly for the ones who live alone. Innovative solutions and development of such games can act as a valuable tool to enrich the lives of old folks. The results found that younger older
women displayed the highest intent to play digital games. The old people with good physical health, who stay alone and have less interaction with family members were potential users of the technological games. Study infers that gaming keeps the elders engaged and reduces their loneliness.
Chen et al. (2018) pursued a study to examine the adoption of new innovative exergames that are particularly designed for welfare and health improvement of the elders. These innovative games comprise physical as well as cognitive games and thus would be very beneficial for health fitness among seniors. The participants were required to provide information to execute the TAM questionnaire. The findings of the investigation exposed that perceived playfulness and perceived usefulness of the system were significantly linked with behaviour and intention of the user. The adoption of cognitive exergames were dependent on quality of the games and the usage behaviour while that of physical exergames was dependent only on the usage behaviour. Though, social influence had a considerable impact on the adoption of these games. The elders considered the significance of perceived usefulness of increase in physical and cognitive capabilities higher than the element of fun in the use of game. Therefore, the elders would accept and play exergames to stay healthy rather than have fun. This implies that elders are more focused on health issues and maintenance compared to hedonic qualities and pleasure.
3.3.3 Attitudes amongst elders for robots
Klamer, T et al. (2010) performed a study to examine the attitude of elders towards social robots in a domestic environment. It would also explore if they are able to establish a long-term relationship with the robot. TAM framework having the utilitarian factor is used to find the factors. The influences of social and hedonic factors was implemented for the research. The results determined social factors responsible for the acceptance of robot. The study did not observe any major changes in acceptance or improvement in health conditions of the elder users who lived with the robot-Nabaztag for 10 days. The elders found robots easy in operations except the communication feature. Contradictory to the studies, the participant did not reveal any hedonic factors, enjoyment or playfulness while residing with the robots. And the elders did not find the robot useful or enjoyable. The absence of hedonic factors state that there was no long-term association between the robot and the elder user. The study reveals that the older adults reflected very low willingness to accept advanced technology like robots. The easy functioning of the robot did not have a major effect on the acceptance.
Pino et al. (2015), carried out a similar investigation based on TAM theory, with consideration of acceptance of socially assistive robots (SAR) by the elderly group. SAR encompasses a robotic system that helps the user with cognitive and functional capabilities, increased social interaction, monitored the health status and helped attain
health goals. The experiment was conducted among three groups namely, older adults, healthy elders, elders with mild cognitive impairment and elders with dementia. The cognitive impaired users approved the potential advantages of SAR for assistive home care. They showed intention to use SAR at the current time while other user groups showed lower intention to use SAR in the current time but anticipated its use in future. All the groups acknowledged the higher perceived usefulness of SAR. The usability factor and absence of prior experience with technology was observed as a vital barrier for SAR acceptance. A need for customisation of robots according to the needs of the user was found essential.
An experimental study was executed by Baisch et al. (2017), to explore the application of psychosocial working for the adoption of social robots for everyday lifestyle, by older adults. The experiment included two robots with diverse features of easy to handle therapeutic i.e., low demand feature and another one with less intuitive telepresence feature. The author indicates emotional loneliness, life contentment and depressive mood as the indicator of psychological welfare. The outcomes revealed that elders having lower social support allied with less intuitive robots for high daily chores scenario. In low routine functioning conditions, lower psychological well-being was connected with lower adaption of less intuitive robots. In the second robot the results informed that lower life satisfaction was connected with lower adoption. The study shows that psychosocial factors play a prominent role in acceptance of social robots by elderly people. Technology fit of the user also has been found to influence the result. Past experience in handling the device made it easier for the user to handle the robots. In this study emotions of the elders have been given high importance and have a higher influence on the intention of the elders.
3.3.4 Attitudes of elders towards health care devices
Chen and Chan (2014), with the use of a senior technology acceptance model (STAM) aimed a study to examine the affirmation towards gerontechnology. It is a technology designed to help the older people to solve the challenges that arise due to ageing. It helps the elders to live a healthier and independent life with constant social involvement. Wireless sensors and networking techniques are some examples of gerontechnology that supports the declined physical and cognitive functions of the old people. Attitudinal factors did not have potential impact on the result but, age, education, self-efficacy, anxiety and health deficiencies supported by ease of use showed optimistic behaviour of the user. Henceforth it is found that individual attributes have direct influence on the level of acceptance among the old folks. Studies concluded that high levels of self-efficacy and low levels of anxiety surge the use of gerontechnology. People with low self-efficacy would not involve in the risk of learning new things and rather escape, due to the fear of failure. They would not accept the new technologies willingly and find reasons to escape.
Gao, Li and Luo (2015) conducted a study to identify the intentions of consumers to adopt wearable technology in the healthcare sector, with an integrated model of unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), protection motivation theory (PMT) and privacy calculus theory. The study revealed that hedonic motivation, functional congruence and perceived vulnerability have stronger effects on the purpose of adaptation of wearable devices. The medical devices are specially designed for elders and to monitor their physical conditions. The results express that elders though having lesser familiarity of technologies, exhibit adopted intention with the expectations of self-efficacy, effort expectancy, and perceived severity. The elder are serious about their health issues and show inclination towards acceptance of the Wearable technologies to help maintain health and increase life expectancies. The fitness device users seek for hedonic motivation, social influence and perceived vulnerability while medical device elderly users concentrate more on perceived expectancy, self-efficiency, effort expectancy and perceived severity.
Alam, Hu and Barua (2018) piloted a study on imperative factors influencing the acceptance of mHealth in the health care sector by extending the UTAUT model with variable perceived reliability and price value. mHealth is a gadget that simplifies access to health care for all the patients as the operations are linked with smartphones. It is an advanced prominent device in the health care sector in recent times. The gadget could be a blessing to monitor the health of the patients. The results indicated that the aspects that affect the adoption of mHealth by the older persons were perceived ease of use, perceived ubiquity, health related awareness, social norms and requirement to take care of health. This infers that elder suffering from health issues would accept the device willingly. Simple operations of the instrument could increase the acceptance level. These are the critical factors that facilitate the user to adopt the device.
3.3.5 Use of Gadgets amongst elders
Choudrie, Pheeraphuttranghkoon and Davari (2020) undertook a research to understand approval, use and diffusion of smartphones among the UK old folks. A framework-Model of Smartphone acceptance recognised for its adoption and diffusion theory was applied to the studies. The studies found perceived enjoyment as the prominent reason for high smartphone perseverance. The features like capturing the precious moments with friends and families are also responsible for surge in users. The captured photographs in the mobile would assist them recall past memories in loneliness and also in age-related disease like Alzheimer. The photograph sharing and viewing feature of smartphones enables users to remember the past events of life. Hence the developed features of the smartphones are responsible for high acceptance among the old people.
Yang and Lin (2019), pursued an investigation to find the reason behind the adoption of ubiquitous mobile social service by elderly people. Author observed large intensification in the mobile users among the older adults as the mobile services allows the operators to interact and communicate without any constraints of time and place. The study comprised use of integrating, use of gratification theory and media richness theory. The results convey that social enjoyment and fashion motivations have affected the mobile social service acceptance. Elders feel engaged and communicated with the world, family and friends. Interactive richness and self-efficacy of apps had increased the elder users. High expense necessity of the mobile handlers restricts the intention to accept mobile services. High approval for use of smartphones has been concluded by Choudrie, Pheeraphuttranghkoon and Davari (2020) and Yang and Lin (2019). Both the research informs that mobile increases the social enjoyment among the elders and hence they accept the device willingly.
An empirical research was conducted by Esposito et al. (2019), to realise the barriers and the facilitators that encourage or discourage acceptance of use of smartphones, laptops and tablets by the seniors. The study was stimulated by Hassenzahl’s theoretical model, an interactive system to examine high adoption of the elder users. The conclusion informed that the most favoured device among the seniors was smartphone owing to the highest perceived ease of use. First section of the result informed that young looking agents were analyzed ingeniously and inexperienced and inefficient to serve the objective. It was examined that elders had an inclination to interrelate with female humanoid agents based on the pragmatic and hedonic dimensions and preferred to interact for a long run. These variables were not dependent on gender or technology savviness. The elders who were familiar with the technology sensed lower motivation and identified the proposed agents less captivating, exciting and appealing.
3.3.6 Convenience of elders for Smart home technologies
Smart home technology is integration of technology with routine household life. All the technological appliances, monitors or screens are connected to a system by sensor. Elders can execute the operations just by operating one single remote which could be very facilitating and beneficial for the old adults. Smart homes offer an enriched lifestyle by helping elders in daily activities like reminding them to take medicine at scheduled time, connect with descendants and complete the household tasks. Leeraphong, Papasratorn and Chongsuphajaisiddhi (2015) researched the intention of the Thai elder folks with the use of TAM. Various age-related factors were applied to the model and the results were derived. The outcomes informed that computer self-efficacy was the prominent factor that obstructed the old group to adopt the smart home technology. By self-efficiency the author refers to the judgments of the individuals in context to their ability to organise and execute the operations. This
evaluates that developers should consider the feature of user friendly and the limited cognitive abilities of the old people while designing the gadgets.
Pal et al. (2018) observed absence of relevant research and hence piloted a research to understand the acceptance of smart homes by the seniors, with the use of multiple theories with TAM. Basically, smart homes and technologies are linked with various types of sensors, appliances and monitoring screens. This enables the automation feature and the entire environment can be controlled by localised or remote control. Wide range of appliances ranging from lights, fridge, television, to health monitoring are connected by this technology. The results informed that ease to operate a specific device out weighted the usefulness delivered by the service. Hence it can be evaluated that the attitude of the elders can be determined by the operational simplicity of the system. The model also notifies that a familiarity with computers and IT systems is needed to be a recipient of smart home technology. Proper training facilities could help the elders to acquaint with the system and use it effectively.
A study was articulated by Sitar-Taut et al. (2018), with the objective to evaluate the level of acceptance of different technological devices at home by the elderly people of Romania. The study included all the factors like living conditions and health status. Results revealed that 18.2% of elders used Internet frequently and remaining elders never or rarely used it, 71.9% of patients approved to wear a portable sensor, 33.1% adopted the use of Video-cam, 47.4% approved a screen, 41.3% approved monitoring of living room, 68% went for sensors in the room while 69.1% approved fall detection sensor. Most of the technologies did not show a major difference in the acceptance levels, though it was reliant on gender, income level and type of caregiving. The video camera and screen exhibited low adoption levels influenced by type of caregiving and income. Key barriers in adoption were seniors’ fear of losing the device, lack of familiarity and loss of privacy. Financial levels supported the degree of acceptance. No major gender gap was examined during the study. Hence, this infers that elders that belong to a high-income group and having familiarity with the technology operations could be potential users of the smart home technology.
4
EMPIRICAL DATA
The data of the research has been collected according to snowball sampling and semi-structured interview method outline in Chapter 2 ‘Method and Implementation’. The pilot testing were run before the interview official started to further improve the interview questions. And, for better organizing the interview, the interview questions comprise three parts, each part is responsible for one research question. The interview questions design to include the central question and the correlative questions to the central question. It is also worth noting that to better comprehend in-depth thoughts
and sights from participants, coding and transcribing the responses from the interview is required after obtained the data.
4.1 Collected data
The data is collected through semi-structured interview and from the responses the following data is obtained which has a different and widespread responses. The thoughts of the respondents in light of various research questions are obtained. There are some creative thoughts, some suggestions and simplifications recommended by elderly people to the technology manufacturers and many such useful insights are presented below:
Table1: The Demographic details and technology acceptance views of the interviewees are as below:
Interviewee Demographic Details Experience of using Electronic Technologies
1 Age - 64
Education - Middle School
Job - Housewife Gender - Female
1: Limited technology which was useful to her in doing house course activities, like washing machine.
2: Use cell phone to “...contact with the friends and families” and “...receive messages...and watch news”.
3: Watches TV, and delivery of food apps and other required services be used In COVID-19.
2 Age - 84
Education - Primary School
Job - Farmer Gender - Male
1: High usage of TV, Tablet and iPad during COVID-19 and daily, he was able to perform the basic functions.
2: The main gadgets used by him were the hearing aid and the phone.
3: He was not friendly to online payment method. 3 Age - 63 Education - Middle School Job - Housewife Gender - Female
1: She also used smart phones, TV, Wasing machine, fridge and oven.
2: Compares with smart home technology, she prefers use technology that she familiar with.
4 Age - 64
Education - Bachelor Degree
Job - Project manager in nationalized business Gender - Male
1: He was more exposed to some of the advanced technologies like iMac, iPhone and walki-talkie because of job requirement.
2: He used to watch TV in his leisure time. 3: The difficulty he faced was to do online transfer and he had issues in remembering passwords, but his kids always help him.
5 Age - 67
Education - PhD Degree Job - Retired professor of History
Gender - Male
1: He is very comfortable using mobile phone, computer, slide viewer, Bluetooth speakers. He was a music lover so he used the speakers most in order to spend time during pandemic.
2: He was almost 80% of the time he did not required technological help for usage, but found issues in using WeChat but was assisted by his son to use that app.
3: He found to register online for government records on tracking of the disease.
6 Age – 60
Education - High Education
Job - Businesswoman Gender - Female
1: She had her own choice of technological advancement, like using smart home technology to"...control all home appliances", and the most used gadgets were mobile phone, "...it is convenient to connect with cooperators."
2: E-health apps were mentioned which provided medical service to the elderly patients in this times of COVID-19, which she used and got a prescription for herself.
7 Age – 75
Education - High School Job - Farmer
Gender - Male
1: He used smart phone to connect to his family members but only twice a week and his frequency of using technology is very less. 2: Television is the electronic gadget which is used by the farmer to pass the time when he feels bored. He finds the technological equipment hard and tricky until someone teaches him.
8 Age – 61
Education - High education
Job - Freelance Gender - Male
1: He was into photography and used DJI drones to take beautiful pictures of scenery
2: He used cell phone for buying food, pay online bills and booking taxi.
3: He believed that almost 70% of the technologies are not elderly user friendly and they would need some assistance and explanation for using it for the first time.
9 Age - 62
Education – Bachelor Job - Finance
Gender - Male
1: Well acquainted with software knowledge like SQL and SPSS, used mobile phone to keep a watch over the fluctuations of the stock and along with it, he used to listen to music or watch movies also in the computer for relaxation. 2: He also used smart home applicances and talked about his convenience to use e-walltets and e-health but other elderly people might not be able to adjust to such technology.
10 Age - 70
Job - Doctor Education - Master Gender - Female
1: She was using various technologies in order to cure the patients and one such which she mentioned was the CT machine.
2: She used to watch TV and avail the comforting features of massage chair while at home during pandemic.
3: In the field of curing patients it becomes risky to learn new machines and there is a threat of hurting oneself or the patient. She always needed assistance while using new machines.
4.2 Data analysis
The thematic analysis is to be performed. The following table identifies the themes based on research question 1: What are their attitudes towards using electronic
technologies?
Table 2: Thematic analysis based on attitudes of elders towards using electronic technologies
Themes Interviewee’s responses Inference Attitudes of elders
towards electronic technology
1. Yes, if I feel the technology is useful and helpful to me, I will continue to use. But if, it’s hard for me to apply the functions, I won’t use it anymore.
2. I hold on positive
attitude to use it, and will continue to use until i die. Because the advantage that technology brings to me is greater than the disadvantage. 3. I will keep using the
“must needed” electronic
technology, nevertheless I unable to use it I will to learn how to use it. Because I really can not live without these technologies.
4. No, If I experienced
too difficult when i used one technology, I can ask for help or give up. But it fine for me to utilize other technology.
5. No, I will continue
using electronic technology. As long as our human society is continuing, the technology will continue to develop. I also want to keep up with the times.
6. My attitude will be
changed it depends on the my individual’s living habits. I will discard the products that i am not used to, and leave products that are
Almost all the elderly people had the similar thought that they would keep using the technology even if they find it a bit cumbersome. They would learn and take help form others but keep on using it. So, the intentions and attitude of elderly towards usage of technology was positive.
helpful to my life.
7. Yes, I used to think electronic products were too
complicated and difficult to use until someone taught me how to use them and I found them very convenient.
8. No, keep using the
technology of course.
9. No, always on the
positive side.
10. Yes, I didn’t trust
electronic products before, now I am enjoying it.
Attitudes of elders towards internet
1. Online chat app and
online food.
2. I unable to access
internet, I do not have any
experience go online. Online video chat, online shop, Online payment and online registration was
difficult.
3. But I heard that
internet fraud is highly happened in elderly group, but i won’t use online transfer and I don’t know how to use it at all. Online transfer and online chat.
4. Not so frequently, I don't surf the Internet often. Online bank, online transfer, online shopping, Online chat app.
5. Threat is internet fraud finds to me. find the solution
On this basis of the word internet and online, the following sentences and technologies were identified from
interviewees responses and it was observed that most of them did video calling in pandemic and used the internet to order food. Mostly elderly people found it difficult to pay the financial transactions through internet and online banking. Two of them were afraid of internet fraud. Some availed health services online through e-health apps in this
online. Mobile phone is always used for connecting with someone, or pay the bills online. we can use online payment now. But now, we have ATM, we have online bank 6. online video chat, I
could see doctors online and prescribe online due to my diseases of the legs.
8. Order food online.
Chat with friend online in this epidemicalso brings to me with different social experiences.
9. Yes, Internet fraud
is the main concern. Searched it on the internet. If the software comes out the problem, their official websites always list the solutions. Also go online to see what young people are talking about now. Privacy issues and online property security pandemic. Attitudes of elders towards media technology and game play
1. I use smart phone
for watching the news, contacting my friends and family. But, the other functions on the smart phone are less use for me, i do not play the mobile games and stay on social media platforms
2. Yes, basically
hearing aid and phone are “mush use” for me everyday
I used the electronic technology more
It is inferred that most of the elderly people used mobile in order to communicate with their family members and watch TV, listen music.
frequency during the epidemic, like TV and Ipad, I use them for killing my time. The time spend on tablets, radios, and TV were very high frequency, and my kids will contact me to care about my health conditions by online video chat.
3. Smart phone are
using for calling somebody and checking the messages. I am taking care of my granddaughter, so I need smart phone to contact her parents.
4. Yes, I use iphone
and imac for my working. Iphone is most used electronic technology when I am working I also used news app for watch news,
and use fiction app to read fiction during my leisure time.
The computer is frequent use in documenting the work files and watching movies.
I used online chat app a lot to contact my family and make sure they are fine.
5. Yes, technology
helps me contact my friends. Also, sound speaker is quiet important to me, I love music, sound speaker is a good helper to me to kill the time.
6. The mobile phone
is almost always in hand
I make business, so the everyday task for me is to contact my cooperators via email or phone call or online video chat.
7. The authenticity of
the video chat makes me feel that my family is always by my side. Electronic products give me a sense
of security, so that I can keep in touch with my family all the time, TV can give me something to do when I am bored.
8. I used mobile phone
most, because I wanted to learn about the epidemic news, send text messages to my family, and order foods online from my mobile phone
9. I also listened to
music or watched movies via computer to relax.
Mobile phone, laptop is also used every day.
10. I usually use TV
and massage chair. Attitudes of elders
towards robots
NA None of the elders talked
about robots Attitudes of elders
towards health care devices
6. And, e-health apps
came out tried to solve all patients’ medical problems. It also helped a
It is observed that out of 10 interviewees, only 2 were aware about the
e-lot, I could see doctors online and prescribe online due to my diseases of the legs.
Yes, of course. Perhaps I need to use electric wheelchair in the future because of my health conditions. I also rely on medical technology to help me treat diseases.
9. There is also a lot
of consideration for the establishment of e-health for the elderly, but I think these systems are difficult to learn for the elderly who living alone, they cannot finish the tasks like registrations, provide valid personal information.
health applications and devices. In that too, one was of the opinion that registration process in such e-health apps is not easy for an elderly person.
Attitudes of elders
towards gadgets 1. smart phone, TV and washingYes, I usually use machine and other electronic technologies related to housework. I use refrigerator, washing machine,
rice cooker more often cause i am responsible for housework everyday, these technologies could help me by sharing my works. During the covid-19, TV, smart phone
and Ipad are very high frequency of use.
2. For leisure and
entertainment, I will use ipad to play some small games, and watch short video on tiktok, only watch it
It was observed that elderly people were not away from technology and many of them used
advanced technologies just as youngsters. The gadgets like home appliances, TV, Radio, Speaker, Computer, Laptop, iPad, iMac. Some of the high-end
professional gadgets like walkie-talkie and
software’s like SQL and SPSS. Handling business through mail and video callings. Mobile has been a
for fun, I do not play it. And, i will watch TV for the news and tv shows. Also, I will carry the radio with me when hangout in the park. The time spend on tablets, radios, and
TV were very high frequency, and my kids will contact me to care about my health conditions by online video chat.
3. TV is also used for
watching shows, others are fridge, microwave oven and washing machine.
4. But even if I don’t
work, the existence of TV is quiet important to me, it is the key equipment for me to spend me retirement time.
5. mobile phones,
computers, tables, slide viewer,speaker...some many
6. The mobile phone
is almost always in hand, and the tablet computer is used more during the free time.
7. Dependence, if
there is no mobile phone to contact friends and family, watching TV series, I will feel lost.
8. I have used DJI
drone to record beautiful scenery. I use the camera to take pictures every day.
9. Computers are the
main electronic products used in accomplishing tasks. Some mainstream software can only be used on computers, like SQL, SPSS. Everyday, mobile phone, laptop are also used everyday.
10. Some CT machines
are used to check the internal problems of the patient’s body. Attitudes of elders
towards Smart home technologies
3. My daughter-in-law
was addicted to smart home, I just didn’t use that for any time. Not interested and it’s complicated to use.
6. Yes, smart home
appliances can quickly control home appliances, which is convenient for my daily life. The indisputable benefits of smart
home appliances to the quality of life. It is very convenient to control all smart home appliances in the house through mobile devices and house terminals.
9. The indisputable benefits of smart home appliances to the quality of life. You can control all smart home appliances in the home through mobile devices. After using smart home appliances, I feel that the previous lifestyle is too
Out of 10, only 3 elderly people were aware about smart home technologies where, everything can be controlled from one single button and through mobile app.
primitive. You can control smart home appliances with one button.
The following is the thematic analysis of second research question and third research question: What are the barriers faced by elderly in using electronic technology? and
What are the assistance encourage elderly in using technology?
Table 3: Thematic analysis of second research question
Themes Interviewee’s responses (RQ2) Interviewee’s response (RQ3)
Barriers and
assistance of elders towards technology
Interviewee 3 was always worried about the pressure cooker that it will blow up or the things will burn and she troublesome to use and worried about electronic leakage
Interviewee 3 takes assistance from someone familiar to the product or from customer service.
Barriers and
assistance of elders towards internet
Interviewee 8 found it difficult to operate Zoom meetings and understanding its functionalities.
Interviewee 8 asks the group of photographers to solve his SLR queries Barriers and assistance of elders towards media technology and game play NA Barriers and assistance of elders towards robots NA Barriers and assistance of elders towards health care
Interviewee 2 difficult to operate the hearing aid, TV set top box and also, he said he could not register himself for hospitals as it was too complicated
Interviewee 2 asks his kids for the assistance.
devices and needs smart phone access which I do not have.
Interviewee 1 finds it difficult to register online for the hospital assistance
Interviewee 10 found issues in operating new medical equipment.
assistance from online internet solutions and does not rely on anybody in particular.
Barriers and
assistance of elders towards gadgets
Interviewee 3 found it difficult to use iPhone functions.
Interviewee 4 finding it difficult to remember so many passwords and used the app “find my password” but it was too difficult for me to process but apart from that there were no complexities found while using the technology during COVID-19 or otherwise.
Interviewee 5 the letter on the phone were too small so he found it difficult to read.
Interviewee 7 found it troublesome to operate new technologies
Interviewee 8 found barriers while operating SLR camera functions
Interviewee 4 takes help from young man
interviewee 7 takes assistance from friends and families or from customer service Interviewee 5 takes assistance from online internet solutions and does not rely on anybody in particular.
Interviewee 8 asks the group of photographers to solve his SLR queries
Barriers and
assistance of elders towards Smart home technologies
Interviewee 1 did not find much difficulties but is always worried about electronic leakage
Interviewee 6 finding problem in operating the smart home as I did not realize whether Bluetooth has been
Interviewee 1 takes assistance from customer service
Interviewee 6 takes help from instruction manual or customer service
activated or not
Barriers in using electronic technology
The interview contexts gained in this study observed that out of two interviewees faced barriers highly related to words like internet and online. Interviewee 2 and interviewee 4 recalled difficulties in using online payment technology or online bank transactions. Interviewee 2 held blank in register online payment account and binding bank cards due to his age. Interviewee 4 is not frequently used online transfer technology, and he always had trouble in memorizing the passwords. Interviewee 1 believed that the operating interface of the smartphone is quite complex for the elderly to use. Interviewee 5 held the same feeling. He mentioned that older persons were difficult to online register electronic identification, which be provided to the governments track the epidemic. The entry of registration is hard to find, and it is not easy to fill out the form fluently. Interviewee 8 faces barriers in operating with professional photography equipment. Interviewee 9 held that digital wallet and digital health-care would bring many conveniences to the elderly but troublesome for the elderly to adapt. Interviewee 10 faced barriers in utilizing the new medical equipment due to her job requirement.
Help in adapting electronic technology
Interviewee 1 takes assistance from customer service; Interviewee 2 asks his kids for the assistance. Interviewee 3 takes assistance from someone familiar to the product or from customer service. Interviewee 4 takes help from young man, interviewee 5 takes assistance from online internet solutions and does not rely on anybody in particular. Interviewee 6 takes help from instruction manual or customer service, interviewee 7 takes assistance from friends and families or from customer service, Interviewee 8 asks the group of photographers to solve his SLR queries. Interviewee 9 takes help of tutorials available online or with the product manual and interviewee 10 takes assistance of using technology from colleagues and professional and at times even through reading instructions on the product.
Overall Summary
It was observed overall, that the elderly people were able to operate the phone for calls and texts messages and mostly video calls. Few were active users of social media and some found that difficult. The professional elders who were still providing services in their field were well acquainted with the basic technologies but found it difficult to operate any new technologies in their field. The professionals who were working did not need much of assistance for using electronic technology and they used to find solutions online or try on their own. But other than that, people required
