Information Communication Technology Use to Improve eHealth Literacy, Technophobia, and Social Connection among Community Dwelling Older Adults

ABSTRACT

The Intergenerational Forum (IF), an innovative intervention, offers andragogic programs for community-dwelling older adults, enabling them to engage in youth-led tutorials to learn about Information Communication Technology (ICT). This study examines the outcome of a 12-week class focused on encouraging intergenerational exchange and mutual aid between college students and older adults. Fifty older adults in South Korea participated in the 12-week IF program. First, older adults’ Internet usage patterns were examined. Using a pretest-posttest nonequivalent control group design with multiple outcome measures, we compared older mentees’ e-health literacy, technophobia, feelings of social isolation, and social capital following the IF classes. Our findings suggest that older adults’ adoption and employment of ICT skills improved their overall eHealth literacy and perceived usefulness of the Internet. Consequently, older IF participants with technophobia saw a decrease in anxiety, and an improvement in their confidence in using computer technology throughout the study period. Study findings imply that developing educational programs specifically designed for community dwelling elders with restricted access to ICT and little digital literacy is both desirable and feasible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

Ethics approval statement

This research proposal was approved by the Institutional Review Board for Research with Human Subjects at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Protocol No.: 18-09-18).

Patient consent statement

Informed consent was read to each participants, and signatures were obtained from each research participant.

Permission to reproduce material from other sources

There is no reproducible materials from other sources in this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

The authors have no funding to report.