Older Women Living in Unfavorable Contexts and Tablets in Uruguay: A Design for Access and Use of Inclusive Information

• Published in: Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population. Technologies, Design and User Experience pp. 352 - 371
• Main Author: Sabelli, Martha
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing
• Series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science
• Subjects: Digital design; Inclusive information; Information behavior; Older women; Plan Ibirapitá (Uruguay); Tablets
• ISBN: 3030502511; 9783030502515
• ISSN: 0302-9743; 1611-3349
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-50252-2_27

The paper focuses on theoretical reflections and the results obtained by research with poor international experience in the areas of gender, ageism and digital media, focused on the project “Perspective of old age and gender in disadvantaged environments: towards inclusive strategies of information and communication, The Ibirapita Plan and the Attention System” (April 2017 to April 2019). The objective of the project has been to contribute to the studies of information behavior and information practices of older women living in unfavorable contexts and the use of tablets, in the context of a National Plan that distributes tablets to all older adults in disadvantaged situations. Two specific aspects are raised from a constructionist perspective: 1) the approach based on the understanding of the social construction of information and communication by older women and their tablets; 2) the design, creation, implementation and evaluation of new content of quality information for tablets (digital products) in a participatory approach of the users and the interdisciplinary team (Information Sciences, Communication, Sociology and Computer Engineering). During the first year (2017) four methodological tools were applied to collect data: a survey, in-depth interviews with qualified informants and trainers of the Plan courses and several focus groups in two departmental capital cities and two small cities in two departments of Uruguay (Paysandú and Rocha). The second stage (2018 and early 2019) focused on the design of the digital solution on tablets in order to incorporate and promote the search and use of inclusive local information.