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Opinions and use of mobile information technology among older people in northern finland – preliminary results of a population based study
Author(s) -
Enwald Heidi,
Kangas Maarit,
Keränen Niina,
Korpelainen Raija,
Huvila Isto,
Jämsä Timo
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
proceedings of the association for information science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.193
H-Index - 14
ISSN - 2373-9231
DOI - 10.1002/pra2.2016.14505301119
Subject(s) - mobile phone , older people , sample (material) , population , mobile technology , mobile device , phone , internet privacy , psychology , gerontology , demography , medicine , computer science , sociology , telecommunications , world wide web , linguistics , chemistry , philosophy , chromatography
Older people's usage of mobile devices is increasing. This study is part of the GASEL project and seeks to increase the understanding of the use of mobile information technology and opinions towards it. Opinions are compared between genders and age groups. The population based data were collected by conducting a questionnaire survey. A random sample of 1,500 adults 65 years of age or older was obtained from the Finnish Population Register Centre. The number of respondents was 918 with a response rate of 61.2 %. About one fifth (n=169) had used a tablet computer and approximately one third (n=226) had used a mobile phone with a touch screen in the past 12 months without encountering major difficulties. The respondents had mostly thought that using the devices would not be easy. They had also thought that the usage would not be too expensive for them. Men and younger old people held more positive opinions towards these new technologies. Older people are slower in adapting and accepting new technologies and this should be taken into account when designing services, applications and content, as these technologies have the potential to enrichen the lives of this specific population group.