The ICT4Elders project’s Comparative Report is now available!
The report offers interesting insights from the primary and secondary research conducted in the Czech Republic, Greece, and Germany in an effort to map the current situation and existing needs of older people in using internet and digital technologies.
The Final Comparative Report of the ICT4Elders project has been published, consolidating the findings from the National Reports and research carried out by the project partners in the Czech Republic, Greece, and Germany. The report offers interesting insights from the primary and secondary research conducted in the consortium countries on the current situation and the needs and challenges that older people experience due to the rapid changes resulting from the dominance of digital services and applications.
More specifically, the Final Comparative Report provides an overview of the desk research and scoping analysis performed by the consortium in an effort to examine common themes in the participating countries with regard to the needs and issues that older people face in the use of digital technologies.
In addition, the report summarizes the findings of the interviews and surveys performed by the consortium with the participation of 26 older adults and 80 professionals and family members of older people, aiming to collect information and in-depth insight into their experiences, needs, and views on the use of the internet and ICT tools and applications by older adults.
Lastly, the results of a social experiment are also explored, during which 22 older individuals in the Czech Republic and in Greece were presented with both fake and credible news stories and were asked to assess their plausibility and truthfulness. The aim of this innovative methodological approach was to assess the vulnerability of older people to online threats.
Main findings and conclusions
A cross-cutting observation stemming from the present report is that despite the growing number of older people using ICT and the internet in recent years, the digital divide between generations remains an important issue. The phenomenon of limited digital literacy skills of older adults remains prevalent in the Czech Republic and even more so in Greece, but also, to a lesser extent in Germany.
Based on the results of the present report, older individuals appear to recognize the importance of digital technologies. However, they do not believe that their limited familiarization with ICT is restricting or influencing their lives in important ways. The family members and professionals surveyed, though, appear to have a different perspective, as the majority of them believes that older adults do not take advantage on adequate levels of the opportunities that the internet and digital technologies can offer.
At the same time, the participants surveyed appear rather open and willing to further enhance their digital skills and competencies. In practice, however, despite their willingness, the actual participation of older adults in relevant non-formal educational programs remains rather limited.
To that end, the report provides a series of recommendations for the next project activities, and especially the development of the training and guidance schemes that the consortium will develop in an effort to effectively respond to the key need areas identified.
Read the full report, available in English, here.
“ICT4Elders – Promoting ICT knowledge for the elderly people” is a two year project that aims to bridge the digital divide between generations by enhancing the digital skills and competencies of older persons. The project started on November 2020 and is implemented in the Czech Republic, Greece, Germany, and Luxembourg, with the financial support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
Find out more by visiting the project’s website: https://www.ict4elders.eu/
