Digital Mobile Technology Enhancing Social Connectedness Among Older Adults in Sweden

• Published in: Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population. Technologies, Design and User Experience pp. 289 - 302
• Main Authors: Kuoppamäki, Sanna, Östlund, Britt
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing
• Series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science
• Subjects: Digital inclusion; Digital mobile technology; Older adults; Smartphone; Social connectedness
• ISBN: 3030502511; 9783030502515
• ISSN: 0302-9743; 1611-3349
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-50252-2_22

Older adults are an active but a heterogeneous group of digital technology users. Their digital inclusion and active engagement with digital technologies are influenced by social inclusion and connectedness with other people. This paper discusses the connection between digital and social inclusion by focusing on digital mobile practices and social connectedness among older adults in Sweden. The study reports findings from a Swedish data set from the cross-national survey ‘Being connected at home – Making use of digital devices in later life’, collected among 55–79 year-old smartphone users in 2019 in Sweden (N = 121). The study analyses the usage of smartphone for digital mobile practices and their association with social connectedness. Results show that older smartphone users in Sweden use the smartphone for versatile mobile practices. Nearly all respondents use the smartphone for text messages, but receiving or sending voice or video calls is relatively rare. The differences between the three age groups (55–59; 60–69; 70–79) are relatively small. Using the smartphone for gaming is a more frequent activity among younger age groups. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the usage of the smartphone for digital mobile practices is positively associated with connectedness with community, and less associated with connectedness with personal relationships and society. Older adults who use their smartphone in a more versatile way report more social activities with community than respondents with less versatile digital activity. Age did not remain a significant predictor to any form of social connectedness.