Active DigiAge – Technology Acceptance by the Ageing People

Abstract

The ageing of society is a worldwide phenomenon, particularly in industrialised countries, like Finland. To tackle the challenges of swiftly rising healthcare and social welfare costs and a new type of demand for related services, digital assistive technology solutions have emerged in recent years. Through qualitative semi-structured interviews conducted in South Finland, this empirically driven study contributes to the understanding of the attitudes of ageing people toward digital assistive technology that maintains their activities of daily living. Empirical investigations demonstrated that ageing people cannot be treated as one homogeneous group when developing technology for them. The findings have revealed that the major moderating factors that may significantly influence older adults’ acceptance and willingness to use the digital assistive technology include functional capacity, socio-demographic characteristics, digital literacy and educational background as well as the social environment supporting their ability to maintain an independent life in their own homes.