How do older adults communicate with the UK public sector? : Comparing online communication channels

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 holdersGovernments around the world are moving away from conventional ways of face to face communication to a more digital approach when delivering services to their citizens. This includes using the internet as both a communication tool and an information source to improve efficiency in their services. However, not all the citizens are making use of these changes, especially the older adults. Therefore, this research-in-progress paper aims to investigate and identify the factors that encourage older adults to continue using a particular communication channel when interacting with the government. In addition, future directions, limitations and conclusions are also provided within this paper. The implication of this study to academia is viewed to be the development of an extended framework that allows an understanding of continuance intention of online communication tools usage. Equally, this framework will benefit industry by informing providers of communication channels to the government to be aware of the factors that influence older adults’ choices when interacting with the government. For policymakers this research will identify the communication channels that promote interaction with citizensFinal Published versio

Future bathroom: A study of user-centred design principles affecting usability, safety and satisfaction in bathrooms for people living with disabilities

Research and development work relating to assistive technology 2010-11 (Department of Health) Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 22 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 197

Social media adoption framework for aged care service providers in Australia

© 2017 IEEE. The aged care sector has been a late adopter of social media platforms for communicating, collaborating, marketing and creating brand awareness. There is little research that examines the adoption of social media by aged care service providers for these purposes. This paper reviews the status of social media adoption in the Australian aged care industry, to understand in what ways social media can serve older people's needs, and to develop recommendations for aged-care service providers to adopt social media applications to empower older people. Through a review of the literature and interviews with Australian experts, this paper suggests aged care providers use a three-phase framework when adopting social media in the aged care sector. The first phase is to adopt a popular public social media platform such as Facebook followed by Instagram and Twitter. The second phase supports interaction by encouraging posts and feedback by locally hosted member forums. The third phase is the adoption of specialised social applications for closed groups and specific functions. The paper concludes with a discussion on the implications of the framework and proposes directions for future research

Already at a disadvantage? ICT in the home and children's preparation for primary school. (ICT Research Bursaries 2004 - Final Report)

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of socio-economic disadvantage on pre-school children's development of competences in information and communications technologies (ICT). The study focuses on children's experiences of ICT in the home and in pre-school settings in the year before they begin formal education, and seeks to investigate concepts of advantage and disadvantage in this context. The study also aims to investigate teachers' perceptions of children's ICT competences on entry to school

The role of information and communication technologies in managing transition and sustaining women\u27s health during their midlife years

This research has been motivated primarily by a desire to extend and enrich existing research on women’s uses of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to manage relationships, and access and construct social support during their transitional midlife years. In doing so, this research addresses a gap in the literature on women’s consumption of such technologies. Since the late 1980s, when several landmark studies investigated women’s use of the telephone, there has been little systematic evaluation of the degree to which newer communication technologies have become integrated into women’s communication practices. Another key feature of this research is an examination of how ‘midlife’, as a stage of life characterised by several common transitions, is experienced by a group of women. These life experiences are modified by the availability of social support and, significantly for this research, by the communication conduits through which this support circulates. Given that midlife involves physical and emotional changes that may impact on a woman’s sense of self, this period of transition can be a source of stress. Numerous studies have identified the critical role social support plays in helping individuals cope with stress. For women, social support is commonly manifested through female networks, maintained through faceto- face encounters, and increasingly through mediated communication channels. In a region as geographically isolated as Western Australia, where over 27% of the population were born overseas, the importance of communication technologies in facilitating access to dispersed social support networks is arguably even more critical. The research procedure, drawing on a qualitative, interpretive methodological approach, involved 40 in-depth, one-on-one ethnographic interviews with women aged between 45 and 55. Initial findings indicated that while women are actively appropriating a range of online communication channels, there was a risk in limiting the research focus to women’s use of the Internet, in isolation from their broader communication practices. In particular, this research makes clear that one significant aspect of women’s uses of ICTs lies in how different communication channels meet the needs of women and their families at particular moments in their lives. At the midway mark in the lifecycle, many of the women interviewed are either consciously, or in some cases intuitively, employing particular communication channels to manage difficult or sensitive relationships; their choices often constrained by the communication needs and/or preferences of their aging parents and/or their own children. Despite such constraints, this research provides strong evidence to suggest that midlife women are as adept at strategically appropriating multiple communication technologies to satisfy their own needs, as are many younger people. This is manifested in a variety of ways, from women’s use of email as a safe conduit through which to maintain tenuous links with difficult siblings; to their strategic employment of email, instant messaging and webcam to foster a richer sense of connection with young adult children living thousands of kilometres away; through to their appropriation of a mix of ‘old’ and new channels such as face-to-face communication, the landline telephone, text messaging and email, as tools to help them manage their hectic lifestyles and sustain relationships with family and friends. Women’s active appropriation of multiple communication channels is therefore critical to the ongoing maintenance of relationships and, by extension, the health and emotional wellbeing not only of the women themselves, but also their loved ones and friend