Older people's adaptation to new modes of communication

Abstract

The advances in Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the past three decades have served to improve the lives of older persons globally. While this evolution of ICT has in large measure benefited older Canadians, it has also resulted in their alienation from many activities in mainstream society. This alienation has been attributed to the rapid advance of ICT, and the slow rate at which older Canadians are adopting and using mainstream computers, new mobile communication devices and Internet services. Therefore, this thesis sought to explore how older persons in Canada are adopting and adapting to using these different technologies, in formal and informal settings. This study utilized a qualitative descriptive methodology as the strategy of enquiry. Using inclusion criteria and purposive sampling, semi-structured face-to-face interviews were used to collect descriptive data from ten participants in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. The ages of the participants ranged between 67 to 81 years. Participants were selected from varying backgrounds, with different experiences using and interacting with ICTs. The interview data was transcribed and coded into distinctive themes, and analyzed using conventional content analysis. These themes were used as the basis for presenting and discussing the findings. While some negative emotions could be attributed to the adoption behavior of a few participants, generally the findings suggest that Canadians 65 years and older in this study are adopting and using mainstream, computers, new mobile communication devices and the Internet on a regular basis.