Technology and social marginality: exploring the experiences and perceptions of a community-based digital intervention among older adults living in public rental flats of a low-income neighborhood (Preprint)

Abstract

Older adults worldwide experienced heightened risks of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and poor mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, digital technology emerged as a means to mitigate social isolation and enhance social connectedness among older adults. However, older adults’ behaviors and attitudes towards the adoption and utilization of digital technology are heterogenous and shaped by factors like age, income, and education. Few empirical studies have examined how older adults experiencing social and economic disadvantages perceive the learning of digital tools.

This study aimed to examine the motivations, experience, and perceptions towards a community-based digital intervention among older adults residing in public rental flats of a low-income neighborhood. Specifically, the study explored how their attitudes and behaviors towards learning smartphones are shaped by their experiences of age and socio-economic-related challenges.

This study adopted a qualitative methodology. Between December 2020 and March 2021, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 19 participants aged 60 years and older who had completed the community-based digital intervention. We asked participants questions about the challenges encountered amid pandemic, their perceived benefits and difficulties of smartphone usage, and their experiences participating in the intervention. All interviews were audio-recorded and analyzed using a reflexive thematic approach.

Although older learners stated varying levels of motivation to learn, most expressed ambivalence about the perceived utility and relevance of the smartphone to their present needs and priorities. While participants valued the social interaction with volunteers and the personalized learning model of the digital intervention, they also articulated barriers such as age-related cognitive and physical limitations, language and illiteracy that hindered their sustained use of these digital devices. Most importantly, the internalization of ageist stereotypes of being “less worthy” learners and the perception of smartphone usage as residing in the realm of the privileged “other” further reduced self-efficacy and interest in learning.

To improve learning and sustained use of smartphones for low-income older adults, it is essential to explore avenues that render digital tools pertinent to their daily lives, such as creating opportunities for social connections and relationship-building. Future studies should investigate the relationships between older adults’ social, economic and health marginality and their ability to access digital technologies. We recommend that the design and implementation of digital interventions should prioritize catering to the needs and preferences of various segments of older adults, while working to bridge rather than perpetuate the digital divide.