CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION
6.3 TECHNOLOGICAL READINESS OF THE RESIDENTS
more than two people they can count on when they have a problem, which is slightly lower than the median of three identified by Keating and colleagues (2004).
Nonetheless the small number of ‘dependable attachment persons’ can be offset by a high level of trust in them.
states that the perception of the person’s availability can provide as much satisfaction as their physical presence.
6.3.1 Access to and perceptions of technologically assisted communication
Ninety eight percent of the respondents had access to some device enabling them to communicate with parties outside the facility. At the time of the study 80% had access to a cellphone, the majority of whom used the prepaid route to buy data bundles/airtime. For extended periods of use the prepaid option is more restrictive, and that is a limitation that must be borne in mind if a mental health promotion programme involving training is to be implemented. Eighteen percent of the cellphones had internet access, but this function was not widely used; highest use in this group was for instant messaging (8%). These findings are in line with those of Lee (2007) who notes that cellphone features are not used to their full capacity by older persons.
All respondents used their cellphones to make and receive calls, but among the older old predominantly for receiving them. The receiving of calls is considered to be the easiest use of the cellphone as well as its most advantageous function. A statistical difference was found between the younger old and the older old with regard to the reception and sending of text messages, the older old perceiving this activity to be both more difficult and less useful. There is also a statistical difference between the younger old and the older old with regard to the playing of games on the cellphone, an activity from which the latter abstain. These findings are confirmed by van Biljon and Renaud (2009) in their discussion of cellphone features from which older persons tend to recoil. Marital status was found to impact on perceptions of the usefulness, as well as the actual use, of the cellphone: the divorced found the device most useful, the never married least useful, and this is reflected in a higher frequency of cellphone contact with their social networks among the divorced than among the never married. It is probable that this fact is itself a reflection of a
of functions offered by smartphones, including video chat and the sending of e-mails, was perceived by respondents as at once more difficult and less useful.
Despite increases in computer ownership in South Africa (Stats SA, 2012), only 5.3% of respondents own computers; this fact would need to be borne in mind in planning for a TAC intervention. Computers are mostly used to access the internet and to receive and send e-mails, both functions being perceived as easy and useful.
Within the last year other functions of the computer have been explored, such as linking to social media, playing games and video chatting,
The overall scores for Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness of Technologically Assisted Communication were very low (10.9 sd 9.3 and 10.9 sd 9.8). It is of interest to note that the Perceived Ease of Use and perceived Usefulness of the cellphone decreases in relation to the longer residing in the facility and is highest in the first year when emotional loneliness is at its highest. It is suggestive that as the emotional loneliness decrease and social integration increases that that the cellphone has less value. This is also of note in the younger old in using the cellphone to play games in the first year of residence. Despite the primary use in devices in this study to be central to cellphones, Fokkema and Knipscheer (2007) in their Dutch study (n=15) that the computer was often used to pass the time, which links with early residency, loneliness and the use of gaming on the cellphone. It should be noted, however, with regard to cellphones, that the questionnaire did not enquire into how respondents acquired them. The possibility exists, therefore, that an undetermined number of respondents had surplus cellphones palmed off on them by family or friends (van Biljon & Renaud, 2009); if so, they would have missed the important appropriation phase which involves a process of decision making about the device’s perceived usefulness and ease of use (van Biljon & Renaud, 2009), resulting in a negative skewing of the recorded overall scores. It is for this reason that van Biljon and Renaud (2009) suggest that actual observation of an older person’s use of a cellphone is preferable to a self-report questionnaire, the data-gathering method employed in this study.
6.3.2 Attitudes and Behavioural Intention
The behavioural intention of those not already using some form of Technologically Assisted Communication (cellphones and computer) was low. This is something that needs to be borne in mind when planning for an intervention. Overall, however, there was evidence of a receptive attitude towards Technologically Assisted Communication, as reflected in respondents’ Attitude scores (4.3 sd 2.7). Video chat offered the greatest appeal to the younger old, while e-mailing was most appealing to the older old. Linking in to social media had the least appeal. It should be noted, however, that these several possibilities were demonstrated to the facility’s residents on a computer, not a cellphone, so it must be presumed that the ‘verdicts’
they returned on the self-report questionnaire hold good for computer functionality and cannot be extrapolated to cellphone use.