2024, Bachofner, Yves, Seifert, Alexander, Sepahniya, Samin, Fabian, Carlo

Online health information seeking (OHIS) is understood by health care, health promotion, and disease prevention experts as a resource for healthy aging. It is particularly relevant for older adults since this population can benefit significantly from the accessibility and convenience of online health platforms and health information. Nevertheless, empirical findings regarding the acceptance, potentials, and barriers of OHIS among older adults are limited. This mini-review aims to explore the level of acceptance of OHIS, including passive reading of information and active interactions with peers, among the older population. Furthermore, it examines the potentials and barriers associated with such practices. The findings ultimately emphasize the evolving landscape of internet health information exploration among older adults and the potential advantages and challenges that may arise, especially in the context of active interactions with peers.

2023-12-07, Seifert, Alexander, Martin, Mike, Lanarés, Jacques, Schärer, Hans-Rudolf, Knüsel, Pius

2023-02-21, Seifert, Alexander, Cotten, Shelia

Although information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as smartphones, tablets, and the internet have all become increasingly important during the COVID-19 pandemic, we often forget that not everyone has access to the internet or uses ICT devices. Individuals on the wrong side of the digital divide are often older adults living in long-term care facilities (LTCFs), such as “old–old” adults, who often have various functional impairments. To shed light on the initial situation shortly before the pandemic, three data sources from Switzerland were used in this study to answer the following questions: (1) Do older adults want to have internet access if and/or when they move into a LTCF? (2) What form does ICT use take (specifically internet, smartphone, and tablet use) among LTCF residents, and what need do they have for ICT support? (3) What is the state of LTCFs’ ICT infrastructure and residents’ level of involvement in the decision-making process related to acquiring new technologies? Community-dwelling older adults in this study reported a desire to have internet access when moving into LTCFs, and 21% of LTCF residents reported using the internet just before the pandemic began. Internet access and ICT infrastructure in LTCFs, in general, are both limited, however, and LTCF managers seldom involve older adults in the ICT decision-making process. While modern ICT usage has reached the long-term care sector, the results of this study show that compensating for a lack of physical social contacts by relying on digital solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be the sole solution.

2022-04-26, König, Ronny, Seifert, Alexander

Digital skills can be a valuable resource in work life, especially in such times as the current COVID-19 pandemic, during which working from home has become new reality. Although increasing numbers of older employees (aged 50 years and above) are using digital technologies to work remotely, many of these older adults still have generally lower digital skills. Whether the pandemic will be a push factor for the acquisition of computer skills in late working life remains unclear. This study investigated the explanatory factors of the computer skills gained by older workers who were working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, using representative data for 28 countries from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The analysis of the survey responses of 11,042 employed persons aged 50 years and older revealed that, 13% worked only at home due to the pandemic, while 15% said they worked at home and in their usual workplace. The descriptives indicate that full-time homeworking is more of an option among those with tertiary education and who already have some computer skills. Of the older employees who worked only at home, 36% reported an improvement in their computer skills, whereas of the older workers who worked at home and at their usual workplaces, only 29% reported such an improvement. Our results based on logistic regressions suggest that significantly more women, younger employees, respondents with tertiary educational qualifications, and those whose work was not affected by unemployment or even business closure acquired new computer skills, regardless of whether they were working permanently or only partly from home. The study underlines the importance of investigating the possible digital skills gained from the home office situation resulting from the pandemic.

2023-12-18, Seifert, Alexander

2023-09-28, Seifert, Alexander, Pfeuffer, Andreas

In der Schweiz gibt es Beratungsstellen für Menschen mit einer Sehbeeinträchtigungen, die Betroffene psychosozial und rehabilitativ bei der Bewältigung der Sehbeeinträchtigung unterstützen können. Die meisten Menschen mit einer Sehbeeinträchtigung entwickeln diese erst in ihrem späteren Alter (ab 60 Jahren). Aus verschiedenen Quellen ist jedoch bekannt, dass solche Beratungsangebote nur von wenigen älteren Personen genutzt werden. Ziel des Projekts PROVIAGE war es daher, die Versorgungs- und Überweisungslücken zwischen medizinischer und nicht-medizinischer Versorgung (d.h. Beratungsstellen) bei älteren Personen mit einer Sehbeeinträchtigung zu eruieren, strukturiert nachzuzeichnen sowie Lösungsansätze zur Minimierung dieser Lücken zu sammeln und zu bewerten, um Empfehlungen für die Schweizer Versorgungssituation geben zu können.

2023, Seifert, Alexander, Pfeuffer, Andreas

2023-12-07, Seifert, Alexander, Martin, Mike, Lanarés, Jacques, Schärer, Hans-Rudolf, Knüsel, Pius

2023-03-13, Seifert, Alexander

Hintergrund: Nicht nur jüngere, sondern zunehmend auch ältere Menschen leben heute in einer Welt, in der digitale Technologien ihren Alltag maßgeblich begleiten. Dennoch nutzen gerade ältere Personen seltener die neuesten Technologien. Fühlen sich ältere Menschen dadurch im Vergleich zu jüngeren Personen besonders ausgeschlossen? Um diese Fragen zu beantworten, wurde anhand einer Bevölkerungsbefragung bei Personen ab 18 Jahren das Empfinden digitaler Exklusion gemessen. Material und Methoden: Das Datenmaterial stammt aus einer Schweizer Befragung (n = 1604) von Personen im Alter von 18 bis 98 Jahren. Die Datenerhebung erfolgte als standardisierte Onlinebefragung und wurde mit einer optionalen telefonischen Befragung kombiniert. Ergebnisse: Ein Teil der Personen unter und über 65 Jahren fühlt sich jeweils sozial ausgrenzt, da er nicht immer die aktuellen Alltagstechnologien beherrscht. Innerhalb der Gruppe der 18- bis 64-Jährigen haben 3,6 % ein sehr starkes Exklusionsempfinden, und bei der älteren Gruppe (65 bis 98 Jahre) beträgt dieser Wert 5,5 %, womit ältere Personen eher zur Gruppe der Personen mit sehr starken Gefühlen digitaler Exklusion gehören. Gleichzeitig zeigt die multivariate Zusammenhangsanalyse, dass der Einfluss des Alters durch andere Variablen (Einkommen, Technikeinstellung) nivelliert wird. Schlussfolgerung: Auch wenn die digitale Transformation voranschreitet, gibt es bei der Techniknutzung weiterhin Ungleichheiten, die sich in Exklusionsgefühlen äußern können. Neben der Frage, welche älteren Personen Technik nutzen oder nicht, sollte in Zukunft die Frage des subjektiven Empfindens der Ausgrenzung stärker berücksichtigt werden.

2022-12-07, Hofer, Matthias, Birrer, Alena, Eden, Allison, Seifert, Alexander

Older adults (60+) spend a considerable amount of time watching TV. This can have important implications in terms of their daily sense of meaning in their life. Applying the selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) model, we argue that the impact of the daily amount of time spent watching TV on daily perceptions of meaning in life is moderated by whether TV is generally used in a compensatory or selective manner. We present data from an intensive longitudinal study with N = 101 healthy older (60+) adults. Data were collected over five consecutive days. Compensatory and selective TV use were treated as a general strategy and thus as a trait-like variable measured in a baseline survey. Results show that the effect of the amount of daily television use on daily perceptions of meaning in life depends on the extent to which TV is generally used in a compensatory fashion as indicated by a cross-level interaction between compensatory TV use (between-person level 2) and daily self-reported TV use (within-person level 1) on daily perceptions of meaning in life. We discuss these findings in terms of both theoretical and methodological considerations.