Title :
A study of smartphone usage and barriers among the elderly
Author :
Mohadisdudis, Hazwani Mohd ; Ali, Norsabilillah Mohd
Author_Institution :
Inst. of Visual Inf., Univ. Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
Abstract :
A wide range of smartphone applications aimed at encouraging healthy diets and active lifestyles have been developed in recent years. However, the use of these smartphone applications among the elderly population that should benefit the most from them remains low. This paper reports on the barriers to smartphone usage among the elderly. In-depth interviews were conducted with the elderly to gather information about their demographics, experiences and the perceived barriers to using smartphones. Twenty-one participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview method. Results show that the elderly have difficulties in using smartphones due to multiple reasons such as financial limitations, vision impairments, and lack of interest and knowledge in using technological devices and their advanced functionalities.
Keywords :
human computer interaction; smart phones; active lifestyles; elderly; financial limitations; healthy diets; lack of interest; lack of knowledge; smartphone usage; vision impairments; Aging; Interviews; Mobile handsets; Multimedia communication; Senior citizens; Sociology; Statistics; barriers; elderly; smartphone usage;
Conference_Titel :
User Science and Engineering (i-USEr), 2014 3rd International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Shah Alam
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4799-5812-2
DOI :
10.1109/IUSER.2014.7002686