Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Ageing and Digital Technology pp 65–82Cite as

Building Social Connections: A Framework for Enriching Older Adults’ Social Connectedness Through Information and Communication Technologies

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

Aged care providers and researchers are increasingly exploring the use of communication technologies to help older people remain connected to the world as they age. These initiatives often aim to counteract the negative effects of social isolation, thereby aiming to compensate for deficiencies associated with old age, rather than aiming to build on and enrich the social connections that people find valuable in later life. In this chapter, we present a framework that aims to inform the design of technologies for enriching older people’s social lives. Drawing on research from the field of social gerontology that provides insight into the multiple ways older adults experience social connection and isolation, the framework describes three interrelated dimensions that characterise the experience of social connection in later life: (i) personal relationships, (ii) community connections, and (iii) societal engagement. A person may experience inadequacies in one or more of these dimensions, to varying degrees and intensity. However, enrichment in one dimension could potentially compensate for a sense of disconnection in other dimensions. We argue that this conceptualisation of social connection in later life is useful for informing the design of technology-based interventions. We illustrate how information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be designed and used to enrich the three different kinds of social connections by drawing on examples from the human–computer interaction literature that have demonstrated the value of new technologies for enriching different dimensions of social connectedness in later life.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Beh, J., Pedell, S., & Doube, W. (2015). Where is the “I” in iPad?: The role of interest in older adults’ learning of mobile touch screen technologies. In Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Australian Special Interest Group for Computer Human Interaction (pp. 437–445). ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonner, A. (2006). Social exclusion and the way out: An individual and community response to human social dysfunction. Chichester, UK: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, R. N., & Piper, A. M. (2016). “Tell it like it really is”: A case of online content creation and sharing among older adult bloggers. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 5529–5542). ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, R. N., & Piper, A. M. (2017). xPress: Rethinking design for aging and accessibility through an IVR blogging system. Proceedings ACM Human-Computer Interaction, 1(CSCW), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1145/3139354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruggencate, T. T., Luijkx, K. G., & Sturm, J. (2017). Social needs of older people: A systematic literature review. Ageing and Society, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0144686x17000150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buffel, T., Phillipson, C., & Scharf, T. (2013). Experiences of neighbourhood exclusion and inclusion among older people living in deprived inner-city areas in Belgium and England. Ageing and Society, 33(1), 89–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burmeister, O. K. (2012). What seniors value about online community. Community Informatics, 8(1).

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Y.-R. R., & Schulz, P. J. (2016). The effect of information communication technology interventions on reducing social isolation in the elderly: A systematic review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 18(1), e18–e18. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.4596.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cloutier-Fisher, D., Kobayashi, K., & Smith, A. (2011). The subjective dimension of social isolation: A qualitative investigation of older adults’ experiences in small social support networks. Journal of Aging Studies, 25, 407–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, G. W., Gibson, L., Hanson, V. L., Bobrowicz, A., & McKay, A. (2010). Engaging the disengaged: How do we design technology for digitally excluded older adults? In O. W. Bertelsen, P. Krogh, K. Halskov, & M. G. Petersen (Eds.), DIS 2010: Proceedings of the 8th ACM conference on designing interactive systems (pp. 175–178). New York: ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cornwell, E. Y., & Waite, L. J. (2009). Social disconnectedness, perceived isolation, and health among older adults. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 50, 31–48. https://doi.org/10.1177/002214650905000103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dahl, Y., & Löfström, E. (2018). Supporting social interaction in care environments: Exploring stakeholder perspectives on the potential of interactive technology. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2018.1426897.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Donder, L., de Whitte, N., Buffel, T., Dury, S., & Verte, D. (2012). Social capital and feelings of unsafety in later life: A study on the influence of social networks, place attachment, and civic participation on perceived safety in Belgium. Research on Aging, 34(4), 425–448.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Jong Gierveld, J., & van Tilburg, T. (2006). A 6-item scale for overall, emotional, and social loneliness: Confirmatory tests on survey data. Research on Aging, 28(5), 582–598. https://doi.org/10.1177/164027506289723.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Jong Gierveld, J., van Tilburg, T., & Dykstra, P. A. (2006). Loneliness and social isolation. In A. Vangelisti & D. Perlman (Eds.), Cambridge handbook of personal relationships (pp. 485–500). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Delello, J. A., & McWhorter, R. R. (2017). Reducing the digital divide: Connecting older adults to iPad technology. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 36(1), 3–28. https://doi.org/10.1177/0733464815589985.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forsman, A. K., Herberts, C., Nyqvist, F., Wahlbeck, K., & Schierenbeck, I. (2013). Understanding the role of social capital for mental wellbeing among older adults. Ageing and Society, 33(5), 804–825. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0144686x1200026.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaver, W., Boucher, A., Bowers, J., Blythe, M., Jarvis, N., Cameron, D., … Wright, P. (2011). The photostroller: Supporting diverse care home residents in engaging with the world. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing (pp. 1757–1766). New York: ACM Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grenade, L., & Boldy, D. (2008). Social isolation and loneliness among older people: Issues and future challenges in community and residential settings. Australian Health Review, 32(3), 468–478.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harley, D., & Fitzpatrick, G. (2009). YouTube and intergenerational communication: The case of Geriatric1927. Universal Access in the Information Society, 8(1), 5–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawthorne, G. (2006). Measuring social isolation in older adults: Development and initial validation of the friendship scale. Social Indicators Research, 77, 521–548. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-005-7746-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, R., Betts, L. R., & Gardner, S. E. (2015). Older adults’ experiences and perceptions of digital technology: (Dis) empowerment, wellbeing, and inclusion. Computers in Human Behavior, 48, 415–423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, M. E., Waite, L. J., Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2004). A short scale for measuring loneliness in large surveys. Research on Aging, 26(6), 655–672. https://doi.org/10.1177/0164027504268574.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, E. H., & Sundar, S. S. (2016). Senior citizens on Facebook: How do they interact and why? Computers in Human Behavior, 61, 27–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jylha, M., & Saarenheimo, M. (2010). Loneliness and ageing: Comparative perspectives. In D. Dannefer & C. Phillipson (Eds.), The Sage handbook of social gerontology (pp. 317–329). London: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kachouie, R., Sedighadeli, S., Khosla, R., & Chu, M.-T. (2014). Socially assistive robots in elderly care: A mixed-method systematic literature review. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 30(5), 369–393. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2013.873278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khosravi, P., Rezvani, A., & Wiewiora, A. (2016). The impact of technology on older adults’ social isolation. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 594–603. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.092.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knowles, B., & Hanson, V. L. (2018). The wisdom of older technology (non)users. Communications of the ACM, 61(3), 72–77. https://doi.org/10.1145/3179995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lester, H., Mead, N., Graham, C. C., Gask, L., & Reilly, S. (2012). An exploration of the value and mechanisms of befriending for older adults in England. Ageing and Society, 32, 307–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Light, A., Howland, K., Hamilton, T., & Harley, D. A. (2017). The meaning of place in supporting sociality. In Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (pp. 1141–1152). Edinburgh, United Kingdom: ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindley, S. E. (2012). Shades of lightweight: Supporting cross-generational communication through home messaging. Universal Access in the Information Society, 11(1), 31–43. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-011-0231-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindley, S. E., Harper, R., & Sellen, A. (2009). Desiring to be in touch in a changing communications landscape: Attitudes of older adults. In Proceedings of SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1693–1702). New York: ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindley, S., & Wallace, J. (2015). Placing in age: Transitioning to a new home in later life. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 22(4), 1–39. https://doi.org/10.1145/2755562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindsay, S., Jackson, D., Schofield, G., & Olivier, P. (2012). Engaging older people using participatory design. In Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1199–1208). New York: ACM Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Machielse, A. (2015). The heterogeneity of socially isolated older adults: A social isolation typology. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 58(4), 338–356. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2015.1007258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGeechan, G. J., Richardson, C., Wilson, L., O’Neill, G., & Newbury-Birch, D. (2017). Exploring men’s perceptions of a community-based men’s shed programme in England. Journal of Public Health, 39(4), e251–e256. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdw116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Messner, S. (2016, November 30). What it’s like to become a YouTube gaming celebrity at 80 years old. PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/shirley-curry-gamer-grandma-interview/.

  • Neves, B. B., Franz, R., Judges, R., Beermann, C., & Baecker, R. (2017). Can digital technology enhance social connectedness among older adults? A feasibility study. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 0733464817741369. https://doi.org/10.1177/0733464817741369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neves, B. B., Franz, R. L., Munteanu, C., & Baecker, R. (2017). Adoption and feasibility of a communication app to enhance social connectedness amongst frail institutionalized oldest old: An embedded case study. Information, Communication & Society, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2017.1348534.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neves, B. B., Franz, R. L., Munteanu, C., Baecker, R., & Ngo, M. (2015). “My hand doesn’t listen to me!”: Adoption and evaluation of a communication technology for the ‘oldest old’. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing (pp. 1593–1602). ACM Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson, N. R., Jr. (2009). Social isolation in older adults: An evolutionary concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 65(6), 1342–1352. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2008.04959.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pate, A. (2014). Social isolation: Its impact on the mental health and wellbeing of older Victorians (1). Retrieved from Melbourne: https://www.cotavic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Working-Paper_Social-Isolation.pdf.

  • Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Queen, T. L., & Stawksi, R. S. (2014). Loneliness in a day: Activity engagement, time alone, and experienced emotions. Psychology and Aging, 29(2), 297–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raymond, E., Sevigny, A., Tourigny, A., Vezina, A., Verreault, R., & Guilbert, A. C. (2013). On the track of evaluated programmes targeting the social participation of seniors: A typology proposal. Ageing and Society, 33(2), 267–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Righi, V., Sayago, S., & Blat, J. (2017). When we talk about older people in HCI, who are we talking about? Towards a ‘turn to community’ in the design of technologies for a growing ageing population. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 108, 15–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2017.06.005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, Y., & Marsden, G. (2013). Does he take sugar? Moving beyond the rhetoric of compassion. Interactions, 20(4), 48–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sansoni, J., Marosszeky, N., Sansoni, E., & Fleming, G. (2010). Final report: Effective assessment of social isolation. Retrieved from Wollongong: http://ro.uow.edu.au/ahsri/465/.

  • Siren, A., & Knudsen, S. G. (2017). Older adults and emerging digital service delivery: A mixed methods study on information and communications technology use, skills, and attitudes. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 29(1), 35–50. https://doi.org/10.1080/08959420.2016.1187036.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steptoe, A., Shankar, A., Demakakos, P., & Wardle, J. (2013). Social isolation, loneliness, and all-cause mortality in older men and women. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(15), 5797–5801.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, J., Browning, C., & Sims, J. (2015). Civic socialising: A revealing new theory about older people’s social relationships. Ageing and Society, 35(4), 750–764. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0144686x13001049.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Goot, M., Beentjes, J. W. J., & van Selm, M. (2012). Meanings of television in older adults’ lives: An analysis of change and continuity in television viewing. Ageing and Society, 32, 147–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Victor, C., Scambler, S., & Bond, J. (2009). The social world of older people. Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vines, J., Pritchard, G., Wright, P., Olivier, P., & Brittain, K. (2015). An age-old problem: Examining the discourses of ageing in HCI and strategies for future research. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), 22(1), 2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wadley, G., Vetere, F., Hopkins, L., Green, J., & Kulik, L. (2014). Ambient technology for connecting hospitalised children with school and home. International Journal of Human Computer Studies, 72(8–9), 640–653.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waycott, J., Davis, H., Vetere, F., Morgans, A., Gruner, A., Ozanne, E., & Kulik, L. (2014). Captioned photographs in psychosocial aged care: Relationship building and boundary work. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 4167–4176). ACM Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waycott, J., Vetere, F., Pedell, S., Kulik, L., Ozanne, E., Gruner, A., & Downs, J. (2013). Older adults as digital content producers. In W. E. Mackay, S. Brewster, & S. Bødker (Eds.), CHI ‘13: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 39–48). Paris: ACM Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waycott, J., Vetere, F., Pedell, S., Morgans, A., Ozanne, E., & Kulik, L. (2016). Not for me: Older adults choosing not to participate in a social isolation intervention. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 745–757). ACM Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiss, R. S. (1973). Loneliness: The experience of emotional and social isolation. Cambridge, MA and London, UK: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zavaleta, D., Samuel, K., & Mills, C. (2014). Social isolation: A conceptual and measurement proposal. Retrieved from Oxford: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/123456789/11811.

  • Zavaleta, D., Samuel, K., & Mills, C. T. (2017). Measures of social isolation. Social Indicators Research, 131(1), 367–391. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-016-1252-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

    Jenny Waycott, Frank Vetere & Elizabeth Ozanne

Authors
  1. Jenny Waycott
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Frank Vetere
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Elizabeth Ozanne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jenny Waycott .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

    Barbara Barbosa Neves

  2. School of Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

    Frank Vetere

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Waycott, J., Vetere, F., Ozanne, E. (2019). Building Social Connections: A Framework for Enriching Older Adults’ Social Connectedness Through Information and Communication Technologies. In: Neves, B., Vetere, F. (eds) Ageing and Digital Technology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3693-5_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3693-5_5

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-3692-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-3693-5

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation