The portrait of older people as (non) users of digital technologies: A scoping literature review and a typology of digital older (non) users
Sofia Alexopoulou MS*
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AbstractBackground: The images of older people while using (or not) technology is a theme that plays a crucial role not only in the implementation of policies, but also in the design of e-services or more broadly e-governance. Older people is a complex and a non-homogenous group that requires public (welfare) services which in many cases have been moved to a digital interface. The real challenge is to provide these services without excluding anyone.
Objective: This paper aims to investigate how older people are represented as (non)users of technology in the digital literature and public discourse and to produce a typology of older digital users based on the work of Schneider and Ingram (1993).
Method: The study followed established methods for a scoping literature review to discover the profile of older digital (non) users and their relationship with technology.
Results: Based on this literature review, two positive profiles of different power were found: the silver surfers or “athletes” who are proficient digital users and the “older people with borrowed access” to digital technologies who are less powerful and independent while using technology. On the other hand, we also found some negative images of older adults: the “laidback” who are reluctant to use digital technologies but they have the necessary intellectual capacity to acquire IT skills on their own (strong in terms of power). The biggest group entails older people as technophobic, non-users, want-nots, digitally backward/internet laggards, digital immigrants, needy and those who are unaware of their digital condition.
Conclusion: This research could offer a substantial contribution to policy-makers and public servants to provide better and friendlier online services, digital tools and applications in conjunction with the supply of IT courses for older individuals.Keywords: grey digital divide, older people, ICTs, internet, public policy
Sofia Alexopoulou MS* (2020). The portrait of older people as (non) users of digital technologies: A scoping literature review and a typology of digital older (non) users. Gerontechnology, 19(3), 1-15
https://doi.org/10.4017/gt.2020.19.003.11