Rural and non-rural digital divide persists in older adults: Internet access, usage, and attitudes toward technology.
Background: The digital age divide remains persistent despite the recent increase in internet use among older adults. Additionally, older rural residents are at greater risk of being digitally disconnected. Objective: Guided by the social determinants of health framework, our study aims to examine h...
| Publicado en: | Gerontechnology Vol. 20; no. 2; pp. 1 - 10 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , |
| Formato: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
International Society for Gerontechnology
2021
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=155637515&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 155637515 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 15691101 904R jtl: Gerontechnology issn: 15691101 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 2021 vid: 20 iid: 2 pid: 54298 pub: International Society for Gerontechnology artinfo: ui: 155637515 155637515 155637515 10.4017/gt.2021.20.2.32-472.12 155637515 ppf: 1 ppct: 9 formats: tig: atl: Rural and non-rural digital divide persists in older adults: Internet access, usage, and attitudes toward technology. aug: au: Hee Yun Lee Shaheen Kanthawala Eun Young Choi Young Sun Kim affil: School of Social Work, the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, USA sug: subj: Internet Access In Old Age Internet Utilization Attitude to Computers Digital Technology Rural Areas Human Female Male Middle Age Aged Aged, 80 and Over Cross Sectional Studies Social Determinants of Health Communication Chi Square Test Logistic Regression Descriptive Statistics Middle Aged: 45-64 years Aged: 65+ years Aged, 80 & over Female Male ab: Background: The digital age divide remains persistent despite the recent increase in internet use among older adults. Additionally, older rural residents are at greater risk of being digitally disconnected. Objective: Guided by the social determinants of health framework, our study aims to examine how one's residential area relates to (1) internet use, (2) subtypes of usage patterns, and (3) attitudes toward technology use in later life. Method: Cross-sectional data were drawn from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study. The analytic sample consisted of 1,566 older adults aged 50 and above. Chi-square tests and logistic regression analyses were performed. Results: Internet access rates were significantly lower in rural residents (54%) compared to the urban (66%) or the suburban group (61%). Compared to urban residents, those residing in suburban areas were less likely to use health technology while those living in rural areas had lower odds of communication, financial, and media technology use. Furthermore, the association between urban-rural residence and attitudes toward technology was compared among non-users (N = 633). Older adults in rural areas showed more unfavorable perceptions of technology than urban residents. They were less likely to conceive technology as "easily available," but more likely to perceive it as "too complicated" and "too hard to learn." No significant differences were found between rural and suburban residents. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that older adults in rural areas, notably lag in using and adopting digital technology. Comprehensive intervention efforts are needed to narrow the digital divide for rural communities. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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