CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.7 TECHNOLOGICALLY ASSISTED COMMUNICATION
friends was associated with low levels of social and emotional loneliness among elderly Norwegian residents (n=113) in 13 residential facilities. As for video chat, its visual dimension was of benefit to respondents inasmuch as it offered them access to the non-verbal aspects of communication that telephonic contact is unable to provide. In summary, access to the telephone or the cellphone or communication via the internet can facilitate social connectedness and, in so far, can contribute to mental wellbeing.
The investigation by Keating et al. (2004) into the value derived by older persons from “surfing the internet”, e-mailing and using chat rooms appears to back up Drageset’s findings. Such activities offer not only opportunities for individual gain, but also possibilities for engagement with all members of the family, including those geographically distant, as tasks are shared and reciprocity is increased (Keating et al., 2004). The computer is an unrivalled tool for developing new relationships or strengthening existing ones (Fokkema & Knipscheer, 2007). Nahm, Resnick & Mills (2003) carried out a three month online survey involving computer- mediated social networks. The mean age of the respondents was 67.8 years. 64% (n = 511) were females who had used the internet and/or e-mail for an average of 4.23 years. The results suggested the advisability of developing online community social networks as these offered support (Nahm et al., 2003). At the same time it bears mentioning that Nahm and colleagues’ (2003) investigation turned up no significant relationship between computer-mediated social networks and mental wellbeing, whereas face to face social support was positively linked to mental wellbeing (Nahm et al., 2003).
On the other hand, Fokkema and Knipscheer (2007) carried out an experimental study (n=15) using Internet with very lonely, older persons, using the 11 item de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale. Over a two year period emotional loneliness was alleviated in both the control and experimental groups. While the change in the control group was not significant, in the experimental group it was significant (Fokkema and Knipscheer 2007). In the experimental group at the start of the study the average loneliness score was 8.1 (sd =2.4), but after two years there was a
p=.018) (Fokkema & Knipscheer, 2007). No change, however, was noted for those who had recently suffered a negative life event (Fokkema & Knipscheer, 2007). Both of the above studies are weakened by limitations relating either to the duration of the study or to the sample size. Similarly, the question arises as to whether the recorded difference in mental wellbeing was attributable to the computer contact or to the presence of the trainer; finally, one has to ask whether non-lonely older people who derive social satisfaction from other sources really need to access the internet (Dickinson & Gregor, 2006).
The various studies outlined above need to be seen in conjunction with the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Consequently, where researchers have difficulty in winning the cooperation of their elderly respondents, their findings may be suspect. This is what happened in the case of a Taiwanese quasi-experimental study which over a three month period examined the utility of videoconferencing as a social support tool. The investigation was to have involved 215 residents in 14 residential facilities (Tsai, H-H. et.al, 2010). However, the researchers had difficulty persuading people to participate: a 71.4% (n=154) rejection rate was registered (Tsai, H-H. et al., 2010). The reason most frequently given (40%) by those family members unwilling to participate was the inability to cope with unfamiliar technology for, given their age bracket of 50–60 years, they claimed to be just beginning to familiarize themselves with technology assisted communication. Despite these drawbacks, the study showed, on the basis of a much smaller sample, that depression decreased after three months and that loneliness was alleviated, in some cases from as early as a week after the inception of the study (Tsai, H-H. et al., 2010). It remains unclear, however, whether the outcome had more to do with the auditory or with the visual dimensions of the videoconferencing tool.
Using focus groups composed of older persons (n=30), Heinz and colleagues (2013) had a far better take-up rate than the Taiwanese researchers. Their goal was to ascertain the participants’ perceptions and present use of technology assisted communication. Despite some reservations, all the participants expressed an eagerness to learn about technology (Heinz et al., 2013). Their principal motivation
for adopting it had, however, less to do with its perceived utility as a passport to social connectedness than with its perceived utility as a means for preserving their independence (Heinz et al., 2013).
In older persons, a device falling under the head of technology assisted communication will not be adopted without first being accepted (van Biljon &
Renaud, 2009). Being accepted involves perceptions regarding the device’s utility and ease of operation. And perceived ease of operation where the elderly are concerned has to take into account physical limitations such as visual, hearing and dexterity deficits (van Biljon & Renaud, 2009). It therefore serves no purpose to encumber older people with cast-off cellphones or computers that disregard these limitations (van Biljon & Renaud, 2009).
While there are differences of opinion among researchers about how much technologically assisted communication can contribute to the formation of social capital, there appears to be general agreement that it can contribute something; that as a form of bridging capital it fosters links between and among social and support networks, giving older people access to resources they would not otherwise be able to tap and helping them for a while longer to retain their independence, the loss of which is often mourned (Keating et al., 2004).