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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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The supportive network
— rural disadvantaged older people and ICT | | Author(s) | Steven Baker, Jeni Warburton, Suzanne Hodgkin, Jan Pascal |
| Journal title | Ageing and Society, vol 37, no 6, July 2017 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press, July 2017 |
| Pages | pp 1291-1309 |
| Source | cambridge.org/aso |
| Keywords | Poor elderly ; Rural areas ; Information technology ; Computers ; Internet ; Research ; Methodology ; Australia. |
| Annotation | The rapid development of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) is profoundly transforming the social order, into what Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells calls the network society. Mobile technologies, such as smartphones and tablet computers, are perhaps the definitive tools of the network society. However, cultural and economic barriers exist that restrict access to these transformative tools and to the information networks in which they operate. One group that is particularly at risk is rural older people from disadvantaged backgrounds. This paper reports on one aspect of a larger action research project that involved working with a small group of rural, socially isolated older Australians with histories of homelessness and complex needs (N = 7) and their social workers. This paper focuses on the older participants who, having been provided tablet computers, were then supported to use the device in their homes over the course of eight months. Despite most participants having never used a computing device of any kind prior to the research project, findings suggested that participants gained confidence, independence and social engagement as a result of their ICT use. Results also highlighted that they experienced challenges in utilising ICT, specifically technical, economic and social barriers. Findings highlight the individual and structural issues that must be addressed to enable all citizens to participate fully in the network society. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-170616209 A |
| Classmark | F:W6: RL: UVB: 3O: 3OB: 3A: 3D: 7YA |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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