The Office of the eSafety Commissioner released a fascinating study on connectivity and Internet use in the over 50s last week.
Understanding the digital behaviours of older Australians
1 Jun 2018
Description
This report details findings of a combined quantitative and qualitative study which aimed to understand the current behaviour and perceptions towards digital devices and internet amongst people aged 50 years and over.
The quantitative component involved 3,602 nationwide telephone surveys using a Random Digit Dialling (RDD) approach. The sample achieved delivers a statistically representative sample that provides insight into people aged 50 years and over in terms of their behaviour and attitudes towards digital devices, e.g. smartphone, desktop computers etc., and the internet. Fieldwork was conducted from 25 May 2017 to 26 June 2017 with the results obtained reflecting a baseline measurement of people’s attitudes and behaviour.
As part of the analysis process, a classification of digital literacy levels was undertaken according to survey responses:
Digitally Disengaged: non-internet users who never perform online activities
Low: internet users who perform online activities no more than once a month
Moderate: internet users who perform online transactions less frequent than once a week
High: internet users who perform online transactions at least once a week or more often
Qualitative research was conducted as a follow-up to the quantitative component. The target for this stage were participants from the survey who were segmented into ‘digitally disengaged’ and ‘low literacy’ internet usage groups. Two face-to-face focus groups (of 6 participants) and 20 telephone in-depth interviews were conducted across these segments. These sessions were undertaken from between 9 to 29 August 2017.
You can download two large reports from the link:
There was reporting of the issue here:
Monday 4th Jun, 2018
Millions of older Aussies missing out over ‘fear’ of the internet
Be Connected is a national initiative aimed at older Australians. Source: Getty (model posed).
Can you believe that a whopping 2.7 million Australians over the age of 50 have no idea how to access the internet, connect to WiFi or even send an email?
A shocking new study has revealed that a huge percentage of Australia’s older generation are missing out on all that the internet has to offer, with the main reasons being fear of the unknown and feeling intimidated by technology.
However, the results also revealed that more than half of over-50s across Australia actually want to get to grips with digital technology, but the main factor holding them back is feeling apprehensive and intimidated when it comes to asking for help, with many unsure about where to look for support in the first place.
The research was carried out by the Office of the eSafety Commissioner and coincides with the launch of their new Be Connected program, which has been designed to make older Aussies feel more comfortable online by teaching them the very basics, such as accessing the internet and setting up an email account.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said: “In an increasingly digital world, we need to ensure all Australians have the skills and confidence to engage online safely and enjoy the many positive benefits of the internet.
More here:
What this tells us is that there is more than 10% of the overall population who are clearly on the wrong side of the Australian digital divide. Clearly these people are the Digital Health Deprived for whom the discussion of the merits of the myHR have about the same relevance as a discussion of the comparative qualities of Apple vs Samsung smartphones!
I also have a feeling that these 2.7 million souls will be opted-in unknowingly to the myHR system which they will have no clue on how to access or control. Another problem for the dragnet approach I would suggest as all these people will have a record activated the moment they fill their next prescription and from then all sorts of data they can’t access will flood in and be available if they want it to accumulate or not. Who knows what they might be told is recorded against their name the next time they visit their pharmacist, GP or whoever.
This is really a mess for those people I believe.
David.
2 comments:
I quite agree, David. That's a large proportion of the population to be in dark and in any event unable to participate....
Especially as the access and privacy controls, as described, seem to require a great deal of management to be up-to-date and effective.
And that's once people have managed to get through the myGov maze...
Certainly there are many older people in this area who are currently bemused about the NBN rollout, I wonder what will happen to those who find their phone has been switched over when they don't want an internet connection
And who's going to help them sort out any glitches they might encounter, like with their emergency systems
Well ADHA and the GovCHF obviously know something different. Seems some testbed projects are targeting this cohort
https://www.healthcareit.com.au/article/new-report-recommends-digital-health-test-beds-drive-innovation-areas-greatest-need
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