Högskolan i Skövde

Background The Internet and information com-munication technology is today considered as a means to sustain active and healthy ag-ing, and to provide better care for the aging population. There is an increase in prevalence in older adults using the Internet, however many are still not using the Internet. This study therefore, investigated predictors in starting and stopping Internet use by older adults between 2001-2013 in Sweden and the Netherlands. These represent currently two of the highest older adult Internet users in Europe. The aim of this study was to examine, first, if there was a different starting and stopping rate in Sweden and the Netherlands; second, if the predictors age, gender, education, rural/urban living, living alone/not, cognition and functional limitations have different effects in either country.

Methods A cross-national and longitudinal design was chosen. Data was used from the Longitudinal Aging study Amsterdam (LASA) and the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care (SNAC). Cox regression analyses were done to test the predictors over time with starting or stop-ping Internet use. An interaction term ‘variable*country’ was then considered for each variable, if significant, leading to a stratification into a multivariate model per country.

Results More older adults started use in the Netherlands (19%); lower in age, normal cognitive functioning, living alone, fewer functional limitations and lower education were predictive of starting. In Sweden fewer started (10.3%), where being female was the only significant predictor of starting use. Both countries did not have many people stopping use; in the Netherlands (3%) they were younger in age and living urban, whereas in Sweden (1.7%), they had lower cognitive functioning.

Conclusion Results indicate that there are differences between countries in starting use. These differences can possibly be explained by the early adoption of the Internet in Sweden. The new findings that the older adults living alone and lower educated are now going online, are positive regarding the theme of active aging. For those stopping use, the differences are more country-specific. More research is needed in order to understand better what an older adult was using the Internet for and why they stop.

Background: Europe has called attention to the importance of the e-inclusion of older adults. Society is indicating that the developers, websites, and devices are causing age bias in technology. This affects living independently, the values of ethical principles associated with an older person, and digital ageism: which is an age-related bias in artificial intelligence systems. Objective: This research attempts to investigate the instrument technology anxiety and enthusiasm, and assistive technology devices during the period 2019-2021. This instrument may be a way to redress misconceptions about digital ageism. The assistive technology device that we will investigate in this study is the adoption of a service that is designed for online health consultations. Method: The participants are part of the longitudinal Swedish National Study on Aging and Care. Technology anxiety and technology enthusiasm are two factors, which aim to measure technophilia (vs technophobia) in older adults. The age range is 63 -99 years of age in 2019 T1 and 66 -101 in 2021 T2. Wilcoxon rank test was conducted to investigate technology enthusiasm, technology anxiety, and how they changed with time. An Edwards Nunnally index was then calculated for both variables to observe a significant change in score from T1 to T2. Mann Whitney U test was used to investigate the variables sex and health status with technology anxiety & technology enthusiasm in T1 & T2. Age, Cognitive function MMSE, and digital social participation were investigated through a Kruskall-Wallis test. A logistic regression was conducted with the significant variable. Results: Between 2019-2021, change in technology enthusiasm was based on less digital social participation (OR: 0.608; CI 95%: 0.476-0.792). Technology anxiety was significantly higher due to age (OR: 1.086, CI 95%: 1.035-1.139) and less digital social participation (OR: 0.684; CI 95%: 0.522-0.895). The want for online healthcare consultations was popular but usage was low. Conclusion: Staying active online and participating digitally may be a way to reduce digital ageism. However, digital ageism is a complex phenomenon, which requires different solutions in order to include older people and reduce an inaccurate categorisation of this group in the digital society © 2022,Gerontechnology. All Rights Reserved.