Digital Exclusion in Later Life: A Maltese Case Study

Marvin Formosa

doi:doi:10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14

| Peer-Reviewed

Digital Exclusion in Later Life: A Maltese Case Study

Marvin Formosa

Published in Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 1, Issue 1)

Received: 14 June 2013 Published: 30 June 2013

Views: Downloads:

Download PDF

Share This Article

Twitter
Linked In
Facebook

Abstract

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are driving profound changes in the way in which individuals, organizations and governments interact. In particular, the internet has been a major force behind the development towards a more globalized, knowledge-based economy. However, in terms of access to computer access and internet usage, a digital divide between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ has long been recognized. One key sector of non-users consists of older persons. For various reasons, including no exposure to computers over their lifetime and in their occupations, income levels, physical disability and access to affordable ICT training, only limited percentages of older people have adequate ICT skills. A growing concern has been that older adults who do not engage with ICTs face social disadvantages and exclu-sion. This article reports upon a qualitative study with older non-users of ICTs, with its key goal being to understand what leads to, and the effects of, digital exclusion in later life. Results found that older persons who never made use of ICTs were significantly delineated by gender and socio-economic status patterns - namely, women (especially housewives, who had never been in paid employment), individuals who worked in blue-collar and working-class occupations, and the long-term unemployed. Data also demonstrated that access was not the main issue at hand, and that the failure of older adults to become digital citizens was the result of a continuum of overlapping barriers. This study provided information highlighting the rationales and motivations underlying individuals’ non-use of computers - namely, believing that they were now ‘too old’ to use new technologies, a lack of relevance or ‘life-fit’ of computers, perceived non-usefulness and difficulty to use, anxiety about computer usage, concern about security and privacy issues, and the facing of disability issues.

Published in	Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 1, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14
Page(s)	21-27
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2013. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Digital Exclusion, Information and Communication Technologies, Older Adults, Later Life, Malta

References

[1]	United Nations, World population prospects: The 2010 revision, Volume II: Demographic profiles. New York: United Nations, 2012.
[2]	Commission for the European Communities, Innovation union competitiveness report 2011. Analysis part 1: Investment and performance in R & D - Investing in the future. Brussels: European Union.
[3]	National Statistics Office, Census of population and housing 2011: Preliminary report. Malta: National Statistics Office, 2012.
[4]	Malta Communications Authority, 2012, Networked Society: MCA’s Digital Inclusion Strategy. Malta: Malta Communications Authority, 2012, pg. 12.
[5]	Mossberger, K., Tolbert, C.J. and McNeal, R.S., Digital Citizenship: The internet, participation and society. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2009, pg. 1.
[6]	Mossberger, K., Toward digital citizenship: Addressing inequality in the information age. In A. Chadwick & P.N. Howard (eds.), The handbook of Internet politics. London: Routledge, 2009, pgs. 173-174.
[7]	Rainie, L. and Horrigan, J., The number of Americans citing the internet as the source of most of their political news and information doubled since the last midterm election. Accessed 14/06/13, from http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/ 2007/Election-2006-Online.aspx, 2007.
[8]	Ala-Mutka, K., Malanowski, N., Punie, Y. and Cabrera, M., Active Ageing and the Potential of ICT for Learning. Luxembourg: European Communities, 2008, pg. 19.
[9]	Commission for the European Communities, Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality. Brussels: European Commission, 2001, pg. 6.
[10]	Commission for the European Communities, i2010 - A European Information Society for Growth and Employment. Brussels: European Commission, 2005.
[11]	Commission for the European Communities, Ministerial Declaration on ICT for an Inclusive Society. Accessed 27/6/13 from http://www.ebaltics.com/doc_upl/Declaration. pdf?PHPSESSID=718c947c879698696341d5f7ff154c0a, 2006.
[12]	Commission for the European Communities. Ageing Well in the Information Society. Brussels: European Commission, 2007, pg. 1.
[13]	Selwyn, N., The information aged: A qualitative study of older adults’ use of information and communications technology. Journal of Aging Studies, 18(4): 369-384, 2004.
[14]	Cameron, D, Marquis, R and Webster, B., Older adults’ perceptions, experiences and anxieties with emerging technologies. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 20(3): 50-56, 2001.
[15]	Sum, S., Mathews, R. M., Hughes, I., and Campbell, A. Internet use and loneliness older adults. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11(2); 208–211, 2008
[16]	Adams, N., Stubbs, D., and Woods, V.. Psychological barriers to Internet usage among older adults in the UK. Medical Informatics and the Internet in Medicine, 30 (1); 3-17, 2005
[17]	Peacock, S. E., and Kunemund, H., Senior citizens and Internet technology. European Journal of Ageing, 4(4), 191-200, 2007.
[18]	Hogeboom, D.L., McDermott, R.J., Perrin, K.M. and Osman, H., Internet use and social networking among middle aged and older adults. Educational Gerontology, 36(2): 93-111, 2009.
[19]	Hernández-Encuentra, E., Pousada, M. and Gómez-Zúñiga, B.ICT and older people: Beyond usability. Educational Gerontology, 35(3): 226-245, 2009.
[20]	Ng, C., Motivation among older adults in learning computing technologies: A grounded model, Educational Gerontology, 34(1): 1-14, 2008.
[21]	Abbey, R. and Hyde, S., No country for older people? Age and the digital divide, Journal of information, Communication and Ethics in Society, 7(4): 225-242.
[22]	Zickuhr, K. and Madden, M., Older adults and internet use. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, 2012.
[23]	National Statistics Office, Culture participation survey 2011. Malta: National Statistics Office, 2012.
[24]	National Statistics Office, ICT usage by enterprises and households 2010. Malta: National Statistics Office, 2011.
[25]	Morris, A., E-literacy and the grey digital divide: a review with recommendations. Journal of information literacy, 1(3): 13-28, 2007.
[26]	Kiel, J.M., The digital divide: Internet and e-mail use by the elderly. Medical Informatics and the Internet in Medicine, 30(1): 19-23, 2005.
[27]	Miles, M.B. and Huberman, A.M., Qualitative data analysis (2nd ed.). Thousand Oakes, CA : Sage, 1994.
[28]	Chu, R. J.C.. How family support and Internet self-efficacy influence the effects of e-learning among higher aged adults: Analyses of gender and age differences. Computer & Education, 55 (1): 255-264, 2010.

Cite This Article

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Marvin Formosa. (2013). Digital Exclusion in Later Life: A Maltese Case Study. Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(1), 21-27. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Marvin Formosa. Digital Exclusion in Later Life: A Maltese Case Study. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2013, 1(1), 21-27. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Marvin Formosa. Digital Exclusion in Later Life: A Maltese Case Study. Humanit Soc Sci. 2013;1(1):21-27. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14,
  author = {Marvin Formosa},
  title = {Digital Exclusion in Later Life: A Maltese Case Study},
  journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
  volume = {1},
  number = {1},
  pages = {21-27},
  doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20130101.14},
  abstract = {Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are driving profound changes in the way in which individuals, organizations and governments interact. In particular, the internet has been a major force behind the development towards a more globalized, knowledge-based economy. However, in terms of access to computer access and internet usage, a digital divide between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ has long been recognized. One key sector of non-users consists of older persons. For various reasons, including no exposure to computers over their lifetime and in their occupations, income levels, physical disability and access to affordable ICT training, only limited percentages of older people have adequate ICT skills. A growing concern has been that older adults who do not engage with ICTs face social disadvantages and exclu-sion. This article reports upon a qualitative study with older non-users of ICTs, with its key goal being to understand what leads to, and the effects of, digital exclusion in later life. Results found that older persons who never made use of ICTs were significantly delineated by gender and socio-economic status patterns - namely, women (especially housewives, who had never been in paid employment), individuals who worked in blue-collar and working-class occupations, and the long-term unemployed. Data also demonstrated that access was not the main issue at hand, and that the failure of older adults to become digital citizens was the result of a continuum of overlapping barriers. This study provided information highlighting the rationales and motivations underlying individuals’ non-use of computers - namely, believing that they were now ‘too old’ to use new technologies, a lack of relevance or ‘life-fit’ of computers, perceived non-usefulness and difficulty to use, anxiety about computer usage, concern about security and privacy issues, and the facing of disability issues.},
 year = {2013}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Digital Exclusion in Later Life: A Maltese Case Study
AU  - Marvin Formosa
Y1  - 2013/06/30
PY  - 2013
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14
T2  - Humanities and Social Sciences
JF  - Humanities and Social Sciences
JO  - Humanities and Social Sciences
SP  - 21
EP  - 27
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-8184
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14
AB  - Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are driving profound changes in the way in which individuals, organizations and governments interact. In particular, the internet has been a major force behind the development towards a more globalized, knowledge-based economy. However, in terms of access to computer access and internet usage, a digital divide between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ has long been recognized. One key sector of non-users consists of older persons. For various reasons, including no exposure to computers over their lifetime and in their occupations, income levels, physical disability and access to affordable ICT training, only limited percentages of older people have adequate ICT skills. A growing concern has been that older adults who do not engage with ICTs face social disadvantages and exclu-sion. This article reports upon a qualitative study with older non-users of ICTs, with its key goal being to understand what leads to, and the effects of, digital exclusion in later life. Results found that older persons who never made use of ICTs were significantly delineated by gender and socio-economic status patterns - namely, women (especially housewives, who had never been in paid employment), individuals who worked in blue-collar and working-class occupations, and the long-term unemployed. Data also demonstrated that access was not the main issue at hand, and that the failure of older adults to become digital citizens was the result of a continuum of overlapping barriers. This study provided information highlighting the rationales and motivations underlying individuals’ non-use of computers - namely, believing that they were now ‘too old’ to use new technologies, a lack of relevance or ‘life-fit’ of computers, perceived non-usefulness and difficulty to use, anxiety about computer usage, concern about security and privacy issues, and the facing of disability issues.
VL  - 1
IS  - 1
ER  -

Copy | Download

Author Information

Marvin Formosa

European Centre for Gerontology, University of Malta, Msida MSD 2080, Malta

Download PDF

Sections

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Marvin Formosa. (2013). Digital Exclusion in Later Life: A Maltese Case Study. Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(1), 21-27. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Marvin Formosa. Digital Exclusion in Later Life: A Maltese Case Study. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2013, 1(1), 21-27. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Marvin Formosa. Digital Exclusion in Later Life: A Maltese Case Study. Humanit Soc Sci. 2013;1(1):21-27. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14,
  author = {Marvin Formosa},
  title = {Digital Exclusion in Later Life: A Maltese Case Study},
  journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
  volume = {1},
  number = {1},
  pages = {21-27},
  doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20130101.14},
  abstract = {Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are driving profound changes in the way in which individuals, organizations and governments interact. In particular, the internet has been a major force behind the development towards a more globalized, knowledge-based economy. However, in terms of access to computer access and internet usage, a digital divide between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ has long been recognized. One key sector of non-users consists of older persons. For various reasons, including no exposure to computers over their lifetime and in their occupations, income levels, physical disability and access to affordable ICT training, only limited percentages of older people have adequate ICT skills. A growing concern has been that older adults who do not engage with ICTs face social disadvantages and exclu-sion. This article reports upon a qualitative study with older non-users of ICTs, with its key goal being to understand what leads to, and the effects of, digital exclusion in later life. Results found that older persons who never made use of ICTs were significantly delineated by gender and socio-economic status patterns - namely, women (especially housewives, who had never been in paid employment), individuals who worked in blue-collar and working-class occupations, and the long-term unemployed. Data also demonstrated that access was not the main issue at hand, and that the failure of older adults to become digital citizens was the result of a continuum of overlapping barriers. This study provided information highlighting the rationales and motivations underlying individuals’ non-use of computers - namely, believing that they were now ‘too old’ to use new technologies, a lack of relevance or ‘life-fit’ of computers, perceived non-usefulness and difficulty to use, anxiety about computer usage, concern about security and privacy issues, and the facing of disability issues.},
 year = {2013}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Digital Exclusion in Later Life: A Maltese Case Study
AU  - Marvin Formosa
Y1  - 2013/06/30
PY  - 2013
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14
T2  - Humanities and Social Sciences
JF  - Humanities and Social Sciences
JO  - Humanities and Social Sciences
SP  - 21
EP  - 27
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-8184
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20130101.14
AB  - Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are driving profound changes in the way in which individuals, organizations and governments interact. In particular, the internet has been a major force behind the development towards a more globalized, knowledge-based economy. However, in terms of access to computer access and internet usage, a digital divide between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ has long been recognized. One key sector of non-users consists of older persons. For various reasons, including no exposure to computers over their lifetime and in their occupations, income levels, physical disability and access to affordable ICT training, only limited percentages of older people have adequate ICT skills. A growing concern has been that older adults who do not engage with ICTs face social disadvantages and exclu-sion. This article reports upon a qualitative study with older non-users of ICTs, with its key goal being to understand what leads to, and the effects of, digital exclusion in later life. Results found that older persons who never made use of ICTs were significantly delineated by gender and socio-economic status patterns - namely, women (especially housewives, who had never been in paid employment), individuals who worked in blue-collar and working-class occupations, and the long-term unemployed. Data also demonstrated that access was not the main issue at hand, and that the failure of older adults to become digital citizens was the result of a continuum of overlapping barriers. This study provided information highlighting the rationales and motivations underlying individuals’ non-use of computers - namely, believing that they were now ‘too old’ to use new technologies, a lack of relevance or ‘life-fit’ of computers, perceived non-usefulness and difficulty to use, anxiety about computer usage, concern about security and privacy issues, and the facing of disability issues.
VL  - 1
IS  - 1
ER  -

Copy | Download