IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Spring 2013 - 18

OPINION

CECE LICHTENSTEIN

Technology Use
By Senior Citizens

A

ccording to
a
report
from the
pew re‑
search Center titled
"Older adults and
Internet use" [1],
adults in their mid‑
sixties are increas‑
ingly
becoming
Internet users. Once
older users experi‑
ence the Web, they
eagerly become fre‑
quent users. The in‑
formation for this
article was obtained
from a Continuing Care retirement Community
(CCrC) in northeast Florida, U.S.A.

Problem Statement
As new residents move to CCrCs, they are ask‑
ing for better technology to be provided as part
of the available amenities. The administration of
the studied CCrC is moving to electronic locks
and keys and is considering expanding the avail‑
ability of a wireless network (WiFi). As those who
are in their mid‑60s join the community, more are
requesting the ability to have cellular phones only,
whereas the CCrC currently requires a land line for
emergency response.
The over‑70 population is increasing in size and
technological sophistication, but new technologies
are primarily designed for a younger market. Older
users have different needs.

To address these issues, in October 2012, the
CCrC in which I reside distributed a survey to query
the current technology use of its residents.

Demographics
The CCrC consists of three unit types: independent
living, assisted living, and nursing care. The survey
was distributed to only the independent and assisted
living residents. Where two people resided in the
same unit, both were asked to complete a survey. The
total number of surveys returned was 344; at the time
of the survey there were 444 independent living resi‑
dents and 52 assisted living residents. This produced
a total 77.5% return. The high response rate may be
accounted for by the high educational and professional
attainment of many of the residents. Not all questions
were answered on each returned survey. Table I shows
the distribution of respondents by age and gender.

Survey Methodology
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MTS.2013.2249357
Date of publication: 14 March 2013

18

|

The survey was distributed in hard copy format using
community "social mailboxes." These are internal to
IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

|

SprING 2013



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