Ict for healthy and active aging: the elderly as first and last movers

Abstract

While ICT hold great potential for healthy active aging, use among seniors is still low. Then, it becomes crucial to understand adoption patterns to inform policies aimed at bridging the “grey digital divide”. Using microdata from a representative sample of the Spanish population in 2015, discrete choice modelling is employed to explore the take-up of both standard and new ICT-based health monitoring devices. Findings indicate that there is no “grey digital divide” for wearable ICT; however, such a gap appears for apps. Moreover, the elderly are less willing to get advice from their physicians on these tools regardless their experience with them. Such results suggest the importance of promoting ICT for health, among the elderly, as new improved generations of the standard gadgets to which they are used. Future research should try to study the potential of wearable devices among seniors.