Exploring Impacts on Older Adults' E-Services Usage

Birkland, Johanna Lynn

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/15249 Copy

Description

Title

Exploring Impacts on Older Adults' E-Services Usage

Author(s)

Birkland, Johanna Lynn

Issue Date

2009-02-08

Keyword(s)

• Older adults
• elderly
• seniors
• ICTs
• e-services
• governmental eservices

Abstract

By 2050, over one fifth of the U.S. population will be age 65 or older [17], suggesting increased pressure on our societies to ensure that the needs of older adults are met. Not only are our societies aging, but technology has become pervasive in many of the processes upon which older individuals depend. An example of the impact that technology has had on older adults is the rise of governmental e-services. E-services have been defined as “interactive software-based information systems” that are accessed via the internet or through other forms of technology [7]. Examples of e-services that impact older individuals include the Help America Vote Act, which requires all states in the US to implement electronic voting by 2012 [8] and the digitalization of Medicare benefits [18]. However, research has demonstrated that older adults use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) less than younger adults suggesting that many older adults are not benefiting from these digitalized e-services [5, 11]. In the case of e-voting, are actually discouraged from voting when technology is used [14]. Several studies have examined e-services usage by the general population [6, 7], while other studies have examined the factors that influence older adult usage of ICTs [5, 11, 12]. Each of these studies implicates several different factors thought to affect usage, and it is unclear if these factors are related, or if some factors are antecedents of others. Additionally, in the e-services literature, there has been a concentration on exploring individual’s intent to use e-services [6, 7], rather than their actual use. It is possible that for older adults, there are impacts that prevent those who intend to use a technology from doing so. This abstract proposes a study to understand the full array of factors affecting older adults usage of e-services, including how these factors are related.

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/15249

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