Social Participation in Relation to Technology Use and Social Deprivation: A Mixed Methods Study Among Older People with and without Dementia

Sophie N. Gaber, Louise Nygård, Anna Brorsson, Anders Kottorp, Georgina Charlesworth, Sarah Wallcook and Camilla Malinowsky
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Sophie N. Gaber: Division of Occupational Therapy, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 14183 Huddinge, Sweden
Louise Nygård: Division of Occupational Therapy, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 14183 Huddinge, Sweden
Anna Brorsson: Division of Occupational Therapy, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 14183 Huddinge, Sweden
Anders Kottorp: Division of Occupational Therapy, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 14183 Huddinge, Sweden
Georgina Charlesworth: Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Sarah Wallcook: Division of Occupational Therapy, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 14183 Huddinge, Sweden
Camilla Malinowsky: Division of Occupational Therapy, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 14183 Huddinge, Sweden

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: Social participation is a modifiable determinant for health and wellbeing among older people; however, social participation is increasingly dependent on technology use. This study investigated social participation in relation to Everyday Technology use and social deprivation of the living environment, among older people with and without dementia in the United Kingdom. Sixty-four people with dementia and sixty-four people without dementia were interviewed using standardized questionnaires: The Participation in ACTivities and Places OUTside Home Questionnaire and Everyday Technology Use Questionnaire. A mixed methods approach integrated statistical analyses and content analysis of free-text responses, through data visualizations. Small, statistically significant associations were found between social participation and Everyday Technology use outside home, for participants with dementia ( R s = 0.247; p = 0.049) and without dementia ( R s = 0.343; p = 0.006). A small, statistically significant association was identified between social participation and social deprivation in the living environment, among only participants with dementia ( R s = 0.267, p = 0.033). The content analysis and graphical joint display revealed motivators, considerations that require extra attention, and strategies for managing social participation. The results underline how Everyday Technology use can be assistive to social participation but also the need to consider social deprivation of the living environment, especially among people with dementia.

Keywords: digital accessibility; technologies for aging; information and communication technologies; social participation; dementia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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