Adult Education, the Use of Information and Communication Technologies and Their Impact on Elderly’s Quality of Life: A Case Study

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing interest among scholars on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and their beneficial effects on elderly wellbeing; almost all contributions support the positive impact of ICT on the older population because their use has been demonstrated to enhance social participation and psychosocial wellbeing.This study contributes to the extant literature by using a specific and comprehensive measure of quality of life, the WHOQol-Bref, on a sample of 341 individuals attending the University of Third Age in an Italian town. Three different model specifications were built in order to test the impact of different aspects of ICT use on elderly's quality of life, respectively: i) frequency of ICT use, ii) location of ICT use and iii) kind of ICT used. Results corroborate the findings of existing literature and provide insights on policy measures aimed at favoring a process of active ageing across western countries.

The impact of information and communication technologies on psychological well-being among elderly people: A case study of a university of the third age in southern Italy

“…The use of ICTs implies the ability to send e-mails, surfing the Internet, using social networking sites, and voice/video technology on devices such as smartphones, computers, and tablets (Blaschke, Freddolino, and Mullen, 2009): hence, ICTs can be seen as fundamental determinants to participate in a modern society (Brenna, 2019;Brenna and Gitto, 2018;Gitto, 2017;Gitto, 2016). In recent years, there has been a growing interest among scholars in the use of ICTs and its beneficial effects on elderly people's wellbeing: the use of digital tools may enhance social participation and psychosocial wellbeing (Brenna, 2019;Brenna and Gitto, 2018;Heart and Kalderon, 2013). The purpose of this study is that of verifying the influence of ICTs on some dimensions of QOL for a sample of elderly people attending a University of Third Age in Southern Italy.…”

E-Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups

“…To increase the level of digital literacy, some European countries have established universities for the third age and offered free courses aimed at strengthening the skills they need for everyday life, such as searching for useful information, using e-mail and contacting relatives. Education also promotes a model of social policy called "active aging" (Brenna, 2019).…”

“…Also, for the time being, a system that would enable social assistance to users at home to use ICT for the purpose of consuming e-health services has not been established in wider application. Research on a similar topic was conducted by Brenna (2019) (EC, 2004;2010b). The author states that with increasing age, the probability of exposure to chronic and degenerative diseases increases, which results in the limitation of individual autonomy and increases the need for care.…”