Investigating the adoption and use of smartphones in the UK : a silver-surfers perspective

Copyright and all rights therein are retained by the authors. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and conditions invoked by each author's copyright. These works may not be re-posted without the explicit permission of the copyright holdersSmart phones are innovations that currently provide immense benefits and convenience to users in society. However, not all members of society are accepting and using smart phones; more specifically, for this research study silver-surfers or older adults (50+) are a demographic group displaying such an attitude. Currently, there is minimal knowledge of the reasons for older adults adopting and using smartphones. Bearing this in mind, this research study aims to investigate the adoption and usage behaviours of silver-surfers. For this purpose, the conceptual framework applied to this research draws factors from the following theories: Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), the Diffusion of Innovations theory (DoI), and TAM3 (Technology Acceptance Model). From the online survey of 204 completed replies it was found that observability, compatibility, social influence, facilitating conditions, effort expectancy and enjoyment are important to the adoption and use of smartphones within silver-surfers. The contributions of this research are an identification and understanding of the factors that encourage or inhibit smartphone use within the older adult population. Second, this research can inform the design of computing devices and applications used for silver-surfers. Finally, this research can enlighten policy makers when forming decisions that encourage adoption and use of smartphones among silver surfersFinal Published versio

Smartphones

Many of the research approaches to smartphones actually regard them as more or less transparent points of access to other kinds of communication experiences. That is, rather than considering the smartphone as something in itself, the researchers look at how individuals use the smartphone for their communicative purposes, whether these be talking, surfing the web, using on-line data access for off-site data sources, downloading or uploading materials, or any kind of interaction with social media. They focus not so much on the smartphone itself but on the activities that people engage in with their smartphones

Understanding the Influencing Factors and Mechanism of Social Compensation for Chinese Older Adults Using Social Media in the Context of Smart Home: A Qualitative Analysis

As a new generation of necessary terminals for future homes, smart homes have become one of the essential mediums for smart aging at home. This paper aims to explore how older adults who age at home can overcome the digital divide of the new medium and achieve social participation in the home context to realize active aging. Based on the theory of social compensation, we select the smart-home smart screen, a representative new medium product in China, and carry out open coding, spindle coding, selective coding, and theoretical construction of the original interview data through the grounded theory research method. The results show that the main factors affecting the social compensation of older adults to smart home social media include user interface quality, interaction quality, content quality, and service quality, and these four factors are used as external variables to compensate older adults socially, thereby stimulating the emotional experience and perception changes at the cognitive level of older adults and then affecting the adoption and acceptance of smart home social media by older adults. This study refines the factors influencing the older adults' use of smart home social media from the perspective of social compensation. It explains the mechanism of acceptable behavior of older adults, bridging the gap in previous literature on the influencing factors and behavioral mechanisms of older adults of smart home social media. This paper provides a theoretical basis and guidance for the subsequent academic research and software development practice of social media under new technological devices to further help older adults in China achieve active and healthy aging

“What I Love about Technology”: Older Adults and Mobile Communication Technologies

In a series of in-depth interviews, ten older adults described their use and experience with mobile technologies (e.g., E-readers and tablets). The results reveal that while older adults may not be leaders in new technology adoption, they do utilize mobile technology when they find it useful. The participants expressed both satisfaction and some frustration with their mobile devices. Participants suggested that the devices allowed them to partake in behaviors they might not be able to otherwise enjoy for a variety of physical and social reasons

�We shall have gone to a higher standard�: Training village heath teams (VHTs) to use a smartphone-guided intervention to link older Ugandans with hypertension and diabetes to care

Background: It is not clear whether village health teams (VHTs) can be empowered to participate in interventions to prevent and control hypertension and diabetes in older adults in Uganda. We conducted this study in rural Uganda to establish the experiences of VHTs in managing older adults with health problems, their knowledge of hypertension and diabetes and their understanding of referral systems. We also explored their experiences with smartphones and whether VHTs could be effectively trained to use a smartphone-guided intervention to link older adults with hypertension and diabetes mellitus to care. Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews (IDIs) with and trained 20 VHTs randomly selected from Bukulula sub-county in Kalungu district from October 2017-December 2018. We used interview guides to explore topics relevant to our study objectives. VHTs were trained to measure blood sugar and blood pressure using digital machines. VHTs were trained on identifying symptoms of diabetes mellitus. Data from IDIs were analysed using thematic content analysis. Competence tests were used to evaluate the training. Results: Most of the VHTs were female (75%). All VHTs had some knowledge on hypertension and diabetes and other chronic diseases. They did not have any experience in treating older adults since they had been trained to deal mainly with children. Half of the VHTs owned smartphones. All were willing to participate in an intervention using a smartphone to link older adults with hypertension and diabetes mellitus to care. By the end of the training, all but three participants could comprehend the symptoms of diabetes and measure blood sugar and blood pressure. Conclusion: Village health teams in the study setting need training in managing the health needs of older adults before engaging with an intervention using smartphones to link older adults with diabetes mellitus and hypertension to care.</ns3:p

What are the likely changes in society and technology which will impact upon the ability of older adults to maintain social (extra-familial) networks of support now, in 2025 and in 2040?

This report reviews evidence on how changes in information and communication technology might affect the ability of older people to maintain social networks of support. It considers both traditional and new forms of social media, along with technological advances in support such as robotics and telecare

ICT SUPPORTING HEALTHCARE FOR CHINESE ELDERLY AT HOME: PERSPECTIVES OF INFORMAL CAREGIVERS AND PROFESSIONALS

Informal caregivers are a significant resource when elderly people need assistance and support to remain living at home. Today, state-of-the-art technology provides the possibilities of applying ways to ease the workload and make it possible to stay at home instead of living in an institutional care setting, such as hospitals or special sheltered accommodations. The current study analysed how information and communication technology (ICT) could support healthcare in Chinese homes from the perspectives of informal caregivers and healthcare professionals. The study focused on elderly people who benefit from caregiving or need personal assistance to help them live at home. A mapping study was conducted to identify existing ICT solutions, and qualitative semi-structured interviews were performed to obtain the perspectives of informal caregivers and professionals. The contributions were identified as objectives of using ICT solutions, relatives’ feedback on ICT solutions, opinions about popular ICT solutions and thoughts about future ICT solutions. The empirical study revealed that alarming, communication, monitoring, positioning and assistance are the most important reasons to acquire and apply ICT-based support for elderly people living at home

A Mixed Methodology Study of the Effects of Age, Touchscreens, New Technology, Automation, and Interactions on Pilot Performance

This study examined the effects of age on new technology, touchscreens, automation, and the interaction with pilot performance. Touchscreens have been introduced on the aviation flight deck, combining all pilot tasks in one device in multiple locations. This study is one of the first to examine pilots, touchscreens and age. Previous studies focused on vibration, turbulence, interfaces, ergonomics, and location for incorporating them on the flight deck. This was conducted as an online survey with pilots that have worked with touchscreens in flight operations. The results found that age has an effect on pilots interacting and working with touchscreens. This effect was found with pilots age 60 and above, but there were issues within all age groups interacting and working with touchscreens. Finding the information or path was one issue, as well as layout, design and interface mentioned by all age groups. More training, using actual touchscreens or training devices exactly replicating them, and repetition were stated as ways to alleviate these issues. The amount of touch sensitivity and pressure that are needed to interact and accomplish tasks was another issue that was stated. There is a misunderstanding in some pilots about the differences in devices and touchscreens, capacitive and resistive touch, and the reasons for this. Some pilots that understood the differences still wanted a capacitive touchscreen, like personal devices. The researcher noted that completion of the entire survey from the participants increased as the age increased and the youngest age category had the highest dropout rate

Ageing Technologically: Exploring the Motivating Operations of Technology Use by Older Adults

Statistics from the 2011 UK Census revealed that one sixth of the population were over the age of 65, which is the highest recorded ratio in any census history. Although there are discrepancies in the physical, mental and social wellbeing of the older adult population, huge strains have been placed upon the National Health Service, care system and subject population. Previous scholarship has revealed that technology use in various formats can reduce these pressures, however, published work on older adults and technology often focusses on attitudes and intentions rather than motivations of actual use. This thesis addresses this gap in the literature by examining the Motivating Operations (MOs) on post-purchase technology use of older adults. By adopting a radical behaviourist perspective, the present research attempts to introduce the Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) term, Motivating Operation, to consumer behaviour by incorporating the proposed MOs into the already established Behavioural Perspective Model (BPM). This approach encourages the measurement of actual technology use as an operant behaviour alongside the MOs, as independent variables, impacting upon the rate-of-response. Consequently, a longitudinal quantitative and qualitative empirical strategy has been devised to produce a rich and complex set of data to explain older adult technology use. Overall, by using principles of behaviourism to interpret the technology use of older adults within a post-purchase environment, this thesis intends to break the dominant trend within technology acceptance and adoption literature of relying on either the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) or Diffusion of Innovation (DIT) to explain behaviours related to technology use. Alternatively, it produces an imaginative but logical analysis of the subject behaviour, which is not in contention with previous models but intends to enhance and expand the consumer behaviour, technology acceptance and adoption literature