Personal, Social and Regulatory Factors Associated With Telecare Acceptance by Hong Kong Older Adults: An Indication of Governmental Role in Facilitating Telecare Adoption

Abstract

Telecare has the potential to tackle emerging problems in public healthcare resulting from the graying of population. This study aims to investigate the personal, social and regulatory factors associated with the telecare acceptance for older adults in Hong Kong. A structured questionnaire survey was administered to 110 seniors aged 60–80 years. The results revealed that older people prefer to use the products that they are familiar with. Seniors of very poor economic status are likely to use telecare service. Family and friends support, self-satisfaction, and social relationship are critical factors which positively influence telecare usage of older adults via influencing their perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. Regulatory factor of perceived incentives positively associates with the attitude of older people toward telecare service, and in turn facilitates telecare usage. This is the first study which stressed that public regulations, such as incentive interventions, should be emphasized in promoting telecare acceptance.

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Correction

Correction Statement

This article was originally published with errors, which have now been corrected in the online version. Please see Correction (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2022.2163062)

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Edmund Hin On Tsang for his assistance in data collection. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by General Project of Philosophy and Social Science Research in Universities of Jiangsu China [Grant No. 2021SJA0060], Humanity and Social Science Funding of Fundamental Research Expenses of Central Government Higher Education of Nanjing Agricultural University [Grant No. SKYC2021024), and National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant No. 72071170].

Notes on contributors

Lu Peng

Lu Peng obtained her PhD in Systems Engineering and Engineering Management from the City University of Hong Kong in 2020. She is currently a faculty member of Nanjing Agricultural University. She has a wide range of research interests in ageing, human factors, work safety, and unmanned aerial vehicle operation behaviour.

Siu Shing Man

Siu Shing Man obtained his B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management from the City University of Hong Kong in 2015. He then graduated with a Ph.D. in human factors from the same university in 2019. His research interest is technology acceptance.

Alan H. S. Chan

Alan H. S. Chan obtained his B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Hong Kong in 1982, and a Ph.D. in human factors studies from the same university in 1995. He has a wide range of research interests in work safety, human factors and ergonomics, and gerontechnology.

Jacky Y. K. Ng

Jacky Y. K. Ng received his Bachelor degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He pursued his Doctoral degree from City University of Hong Kong. He is currently the Principal Engineer in Fuji Xerox (Hong Kong) Limited.