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Digital Mobile Technology Enhancing Social Connectedness Among Older Adults in Sweden

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Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population. Technologies, Design and User Experience (HCII 2020)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 12207))

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Abstract

Older adults are an active but a heterogeneous group of digital technology users. Their digital inclusion and active engagement with digital technologies are influenced by social inclusion and connectedness with other people. This paper discusses the connection between digital and social inclusion by focusing on digital mobile practices and social connectedness among older adults in Sweden. The study reports findings from a Swedish data set from the cross-national survey ‘Being connected at home – Making use of digital devices in later life’, collected among 55–79 year-old smartphone users in 2019 in Sweden (N = 121). The study analyses the usage of smartphone for digital mobile practices and their association with social connectedness. Results show that older smartphone users in Sweden use the smartphone for versatile mobile practices. Nearly all respondents use the smartphone for text messages, but receiving or sending voice or video calls is relatively rare. The differences between the three age groups (55–59; 60–69; 70–79) are relatively small. Using the smartphone for gaming is a more frequent activity among younger age groups. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the usage of the smartphone for digital mobile practices is positively associated with connectedness with community, and less associated with connectedness with personal relationships and society. Older adults who use their smartphone in a more versatile way report more social activities with community than respondents with less versatile digital activity. Age did not remain a significant predictor to any form of social connectedness.

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Acknowledgements

The research project BConnect@Home – Making use of digital devices in later life (https://www.jp-demographic.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/BCONNECT_2017_conf2018_brochure.pdf) is funded by the JTP 2017 - JPI More Years, Better Lives (Grant Agreement 363850), FORTE (ref. 2017-02301).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering and Health Systems, Division of Technology in Health Care, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

    Sanna Kuoppamäki & Britt Östlund

Authors
  1. Sanna Kuoppamäki
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  2. Britt Östlund
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Correspondence to Sanna Kuoppamäki .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Qin Gao

  2. Chongqing University, Chongqing, China

    Jia Zhou

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Kuoppamäki, S., Östlund, B. (2020). Digital Mobile Technology Enhancing Social Connectedness Among Older Adults in Sweden. In: Gao, Q., Zhou, J. (eds) Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population. Technologies, Design and User Experience. HCII 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12207. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50252-2_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50252-2_22

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-50251-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-50252-2

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