IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Spring 2013 - 19

Table I
Distribution of Survey Respondents by Age and Gender

Table II
Cell Phone Ownership By Age and Gender

Age

Female

Male

Total

%

Age

Female

Male

62-69
70-79
80-89

3
27
89
25

10
89
188
57

2.9
25.9
54.7
16.6

62-69
70-79
80-89

90+

7
62
99
32

85.7
98.4
86.9
56.3

100.0
88.9
87.6
80.0

Total

200

144

344

100.0

Percent

58.1

41.9

the facility thereby requiring no postal service. Addi‑
tionally, the surveys were completely anonymous and
contained no identifying questions.

Results
The survey asked respondents to select every type of
technology device they own from a list provided (cell
phone, computer, electronic book, tablet computer,
portable music player, and personal digital assis‑
tant.). The survey listed examples of each device for
clarification.
A total 85.88% indicated they have some form
of cell phone, and 75.79% that they have a com‑
puter, either Mac or pC. The numbers decrease for
the remainder of the choices; 29.39% have some sort of
e‑book reader such as Kindle, Nook or something else.
portable music players and personal digital assistants
ranked at 8.07% and 4.32%, respectively.

Cell Phones
The question of cell phones and their use seemed to
indicate insufficient description in the question. The
question asked, "If you have a cell phone, is it a "smart"
phone? In other words, can it access the Internet, take
pictures, play music, or anything in addition to making
telephone calls?" Only 28.5% indicated having a smart
phone. However, it is possible that they may have a
phone that does more than simply making calls but
have never utilized the capability. Interestingly, only
one‑third of those with cell phones said they have a
land line solely because it is required. Almost one‑
fourth of respondents use Skype or some type of video
calling. Table II shows the breakdown by age and gen‑
der of cell phone ownership. Speaking with some resi‑
dents, I learned some have only prepaid cell phones for
use when traveling in case of emergency. None of the
survey questions asked about this.
The CCrC has Internet‑accessible computers avail‑
able so a resident need not own a computer to access

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the Internet. Twenty‑two percent of respondents
indicated they use the public computers. Two‑thirds
of respondents have at least one computer and
almost half of those have more than one computer.
Nearly three‑quarters of the respondents indicated
they subscribe to an Internet provider, while 85%
reported using the Internet to do research. paying
bills online was reported by only 42% of those who
subscribe to an Internet provider, likely reflecting
skepticism about the security of online banking
and bill payment. Almost half said they have WiFi
in their residence, but some comments seemed to
indicate they did not understand that a router cre‑
ates a WiFi.

Miscellaneous
The last two questions dealt less with other forms
of technology. This CCrC has cable TV service
as an amenity but it provides only extended basic
channels. A total 37.5% of respondents reported
purchasing additional cable channels and 26.7%
of the respondents reported utilizing an emer‑
gency pendant from the CCrC. It is possible that
other non‑facility pendants may be used but this
was not questioned.

Additional Technology
Services Desirable for CCRCs
With regard to technological amenities, the survey
seems to indicate CCrCs need to consider adding tech‑
nology services. As the population of senior citizens
increases so will the ability to utilize "newfangled"
devices. However, developers need to take care to make
innovative products that have a minimal learning curve
associated with their acceptance.

Author Information
Cece Lichtenstein can be reached at cml.computing@
gmail.com.

References

Computers and Internet Providers

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

90+

SprING 2013

[1] K. Zickuhr and M. Madde, "Older adults and Internet use" Pew
Internet, Jun. 6, 2012; http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/2012/
Older‑adults‑and‑internet‑use.aspx.

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19
http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/2012/
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Spring 2013
