The Vista of Information Communication Technology in the Ageing Society: A Perspective from Elderly’s Basic Needs

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the elderly‘s basic needs which are indispensable for developing age-friendly Information Communication Technology (ICT) products. Seventeen interviewees who were aged from 54–90 yrs participated in the online/offline interviews. By qualitative and quantitative analysis, we showed the implication and contributory factors of the elderly's basic needs of “Health” and “Longevity.” Physical (normal sensory function, no disease, etc.), psychological (inner peace, good mood, etc.) and environmental factors (companionship, etc.) all play important roles for elderly health and longevity. Among them, psychological factors are the most important, rather than physical factors. We found the typical problems in using and accepting ICT products, such as Technophobia and Learnability. The results suggested ICT products would play a more vital role in a future aging society. The age-friendly design is needed according to psychological and physical aging features and based on the elderly’s basic needs.

Appendix

Interview Outline

China has entered the stage of rapid aging. The number of older people aged 60 and over in China is about 18% of the total population, expanding. However, there are more and more elderly groups and the rapid development of science and technology, whether from the perspective of scientific research or IT enterprises, the younger generation does not understand the substantial needs of the elderly. Therefore, the Institute of Psychology of CAS hopes to conduct in-depth communication through interviews to aggregate and meet the substantial needs of more elder users to make their life better, happier and more comfortable. The following questions will not be judged as right or wrong, nor be aimed at individuals. We just want to understand you from your perspective of view.

Health

Do you know any one of the elderly that you think he/she lives healthy? Can you describe his/her life with one or two examples?

What experiences make you feel healthy?

What difficulties does the elderly face in terms of health? Do you have any suggestions or solutions for these difficulties?

Please rate each item base on your knowledge about the relationship between the items and the concept of Health. 1 = completely unrelated, 5 = highly related.

No.	Item	Completely unrelated	Slightly unrelated	Uncertain	Slightly related	Highly related
1	Normal sensory function	1	2	3	4	5
2	Having the freedom to make own decisions	1	2	3	4	5
3	Feeling in control of your future	1	2	3	4	5
4	Being able to do what you want to do	1	2	3	4	5
5	Others respect your freedom	1	2	3	4	5
6	Having something to look forward to	1	2	3	4	5
7	Being able to make further accomplishments	1	2	3	4	5
8	Gaining the recognition you deserve in your life	1	2	3	4	5
9	Feeling satisfied with the accomplishments you made	1	2	3	4	5
10	Feeling satisfied with how you use your time	1	2	3	4	5
11	Feeling satisfied with your activity level	1	2	3	4	5
12	Having enough things to do every day	1	2	3	4	5
13	Feeling satisfied with opportunities for community participation	1	2	3	4	5
14	Having no fear of death	1	2	3	4	5
15	Having no fear of the pain before death	1	2	3	4	5
16	Feeling a sense of companionship in your life	1	2	3	4	5
17	Feeling the love in your life	1	2	3	4	5
18	Having the opp ortunities to love	1	2	3	4	5
19	Having the opportunities to being loved	1	2	3	4	5
20	Having positive emotions	1	2	3	4	5
21	Feeling extremely satisfied with life	1	2	3	4	5
22	Feeling lucky	1	2	3	4	5
23	Having no worries	1	2	3	4	5
24	Feeling no loneliness or alienation	1	2	3	4	5
25	Feeling no worries or unhappiness	1	2	3	4	5
26	Having no worries about the future	1	2	3	4	5
27	Feeling as happy as you did when you were young	1	2	3	4	5
28	Feeling satisfied when you look back on your life	1	2	3	4	5
29	Feeling enjoyable to live	1	2	3	4	5
30	Live without difficulties	1	2	3	4	5
31	Being in better health condition than the peers	1	2	3	4	5
32	Being in the excellent physical condition	1	2	3	4	5
33	No disease	1	2	3	4	5
34	It is in a good mood without depression or anxiety etc	1	2	3	4	5
35	Having no physical pain	1	2	3	4	5
36	Fulfilling life	1	2	3	4	5
37	Feeling inner peace	1	2	3	4	5 lePara>
38	Act energetically	1	2	3	4	5
39	Having faith or religious support	1	2	3	4	5
40	Live where you like	1	2	3	4	5

Longevity

Do you know any one of the elderly that you think he/she is long-lived?

Which aspects of life help you find out if a person is long-lived?

What difficulties does the elderly face in terms of longevity?

Do you have any suggestions or solutions for these difficulties?

Please rate each item base on your knowledge about the relationship between the items and the concept of Longevity. 1 = completely unrelated, 5 = highly related.

No.	Item	Completely unrelated	Slightly unrelated	Uncertain	Slightly related	Highly related
1	Normal sensory function	1	2	3	4	5
2	Having no fear of death	1	2	3	4	5
3	Feeling companionship in life	1	2	3	4	5
4	Feeling the love in life	1	2	3	4	5
5	Good physical condition in general	1	2	3	4	5
6	Being in better health condition compared with one year ago	1	2	3	4	5
7	No disease	1	2	3	4	5
8	Being in better health condition than the peers	1	2	3	4	5
9	Regular socializing (visiting relatives or friends)	1	2	3	4	5
10	Feeling no restrictions on daily activities (e.g., climbing stairs, shopping, etc.)	1	2	3	4	5
11	Feeling no restrictions on other activities	1	2	3	4	5
12	Feeling enjoyable to live	1	2	3	4	5
13	Live without difficulties	1	2	3	4	5
14	It is in a good mood without depression or anxiety etc	1	2	3	4	5
15	No physical pain	1	2	3	4	5
16	Fulfilling life	1	2	3	4	5
17	Feeling inner peace	1	2	3	4	5
18	Acting energetically	1 lePara>	2	3	4	5
19	Live where you're like	1	2	3	4	5
20	Receiving appropriate treatment	1	2	3	4	5
21	Having faith or religious support	1	2	3	4	5