Older and Online: Making and maintaining connections in Australian rural places

Life Impact | The University of Adelaide

Helen Feist PhD | Deputy Director Australian Population and Migration Research Centre, University of Adelaidehelen.feist@adelaide.edu.au

Linking Rural Older People to Community through Technology

For older adults in rural regions of Australia the issues of distance,

accessibility and social connectivity associated with rural living add another

dimension to the physical and social challenges associated with ageing

The Information Age

Four Stages of Data Collection:• 2 Paper-based surveys, older community members (n= 859) and community aged care service providers (n=109)• Face-to-face in depth interviews with a subset of community members (n=201)• Pilot study with older people (n=48)•Pilot study with 4 rural aged care service provider organisations

Project Overview

Pilot Study• 48 Participants

• Laptop or iPad• 12 months 3G Internet• Regular meetings over 7 months• Informal, self-directed learning• Advice and support available 7 days a week over 12 months

Changes in Comfort Levels

Television

Microwave

Mobile Phone

ATM

EFTPOS

Personal Computer/iPad*

Internet

Telephone Banking

Online Banking

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Pre-test

Post-test

Percent

% Respondents very/moderately comfortable using select new technologies

Changes in Attitude

New technologies are very useful to me

I use new technologies to make life easier

New technologies make it easy to stay in touch with family and friends

I would use new technologies more if I had opportunities for training

I would use new technologies more if I had more advice and support

I would use new technologies more if my family and friends used them

I would use new technologies if they were easier to use

New technologies are too complex for me to use

New technology is changing too fast for me to keep up

I am too old to learn about new technologies

New technologies are too expensive for me

I can see no use for new technologies in my life

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Pre-testPost-test

Percent

Changes in Attitude

New technologies are very useful to me

I use new technologies to make life easier

New technologies make it easy to stay in touch with family and friends

I would use new technologies more if I had opportunities for training

I would use new technologies more if I had more advice and support

I would use new technologies more if my family and friends used them

I would use new technologies if they were easier to use

New technologies are too complex for me to use

New technology is changing too fast for me to keep up

I am too old to learn about new technologies

New technologies are too expensive for me

I can see no use for new technologies in my life

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Pre-testPost-test

Percent

Changes in Attitude

New technologies are very useful to me

I use new technologies to make life easier

New technologies make it easy to stay in touch with family and friends

I would use new technologies more if I had opportunities for training

I would use new technologies more if I had more advice and support

I would use new technologies more if my family and friends used them

I would use new technologies if they were easier to use

New technologies are too complex for me to use

New technology is changing too fast for me to keep up

I am too old to learn about new technologies

New technologies are too expensive for me

I can see no use for new technologies in my life

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Pre-testPost-test

Percent

Changes in Attitude

New technologies are very useful to me

I use new technologies to make life easier

New technologies make it easy to stay in touch with family and friends

I would use new technologies more if I had opportunities for training

I would use new technologies more if I had more advice and support

I would use new technologies more if my family and friends used them

I would use new technologies if they were easier to use

New technologies are too complex for me to use

New technology is changing too fast for me to keep up

I am too old to learn about new technologies

New technologies are too expensive for me

I can see no use for new technologies in my life

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Pre-testPost-test

Percent

Self-Rated Health

Excellent/Very Good

Good Fair/Poor0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Pre-pilotPost-pilotPe

rcen

t

89% say their access to community information has improved

72% say their ability to stay in touch with family and friends has improved

Perceptions of Community Connectedness

Pre-pilot

Post-pilot

75 80 85 90 95 100

Percent

% Respondents satisfied with their level of community involvement pre and post pilot

• The number if friend ties had increased in social networks by 83%

• The number of social network ties kept using the internet and email had increased from 51% to 83%

Pilot Participant Social Networks 9 months on....

Pilot Participants 9 months on...Email Internet Games Documents Photos

Daily 55.3 21.3 51.1 8.5 2.1

2-3 times a week 19.1 31.9 14.9 4.3 4.3

Weekly 10.6 10.6 2.1 4.3 8.5

Fortnightly 2.1 4.3 2.1 2.1 6.4

As required 2.1 6.4 0.0 6.4 2.1

TOTAL 89.4 74.5 70.2 25.5 23.4

Support and Education• Preference for small groups, ideally less than 10

• A mix of 1:1 in home training and group meetings

• Ongoing informal, ‘drop-in’ approach to support

• More formal course for specific programs and applications as proficiency improves

In Conclusion

For more information about this project:

Dr. Helen Feist, Australian Population and Migration Research Centre

University of Adelaidehelen.feist@adelaide.edu.au

Life Impact | The University of Adelaide

THANKYOU