Everyday Digital Literacy Questionnaire for Older Adults: Instrument Development and Validation Study

Exploring social activity patterns among community-dwelling older adults in South Korea: a latent class analysis

BACKGROUND

With the trend of digitalization, social activities among the older population are becoming more diverse as they increasingly adopt technology-based alternatives. To gain a comprehensive understanding of social activities, this study aimed to identify the patterns of digital and in-person social activities among community-dwelling older adults in South Korea, examine the associated factors, and explore the difference in depressive symptoms by the identified latent social activity patterns.

METHODS

Data were extracted from a nationwide survey conducted with 1,016 community-dwelling older adults (mean age 68.0 ± 6.5 years, 47.8% male). The main variables assessed were digital social activities (eight items), in-person social activities (six items), and depressive symptoms (20 items). Data were analyzed using latent class analysis, multinomial logistic regression, and multiple linear regression.

RESULTS

We identified four distinct social activity patterns: "minimal in both digital and in-person" (22.0%), "moderate in both digital and in-person" (46.7%), "moderate in digital & very high in in-person" (14.5%), and "high in both digital and in-person" (16.8%). Younger age, living in multi-generational households, and higher digital literacy were associated with a higher likelihood of being in the "moderate in both digital and in-person" than the "minimal in both digital and in-person" group. Younger age, male, living in multi-generational households, residing in metropolitan areas, no dependency on IADL items, doing daily physical exercise, and higher digital literacy were associated with a higher likelihood of being in the "moderate in digital & very high in in-person" than the "minimal in both digital and in-person" group. Younger age, living in multi-generational households, no dependency on IADL items, doing daily physical exercise, and higher digital literacy were associated with a higher likelihood of being in the "high in both digital and in-person" than the "minimal in both digital and in-person" group. Depressive symptoms were significantly higher in the group with minimal engagement in both digital and in-person activities, compared to other three groups.

CONCLUSIONS

This study highlights distinct patterns of social activities among Korean community-dwelling older adults. Since older adults with minimal social activity engagement can be more vulnerable to depressive symptoms, interventions that address modifiable attributes, such as supporting digital literacy and facilitating physical activity of older adults, could serve as potential strategies to enhance their social activity engagement and, consequently, their mental well-being.

Optimizing Telepractice Selection and Implementation for Persons with Aphasia

Telepractice is used to conduct many aspects of healthcare, including rehabilitation and research. However, information regarding how to identify optimal candidates and overcome barriers to participating in telepractice are limited. In the context of aphasia rehabilitation research, we developed two tools for optimizing telepractice: (1) the Participant Technology Questionnaire (PTQ), an aphasia-friendly tool for gathering information about potential telepractice participants; and (2) the Virtual-Appropriate Decision Approach (VADA), a framework for assessing and modifying methods that support virtual activities. The PTQ provides valuable information about the effects of human, technology and setting influences that may impact the success of transitioning activities to a virtual format, while the VADA takes findings from the PTQ one step further into application. The PTQ and the VADA can help researchers and clinicians with planning and directing virtual engagement, and both tools have potential to be applied broadly in all areas of telepractice.

SoUth Korean study to PrEvent cognitive impaiRment and protect BRAIN health through Multidomain interventions via facE-to-facE and video communication plaTforms in mild cognitive impairment (SUPERBRAIN-MEET): Protocol for a Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

Background and Purpose

The SoUth Korea study to PrEvent cognitive impaiRment and protect BRAIN health through lifestyle intervention (SUPERBRAIN) proved the feasibility of multidomain intervention for elderly people. One-quarter of the Korean population over 65 years of age has mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Digital health interventions may be cost-effective and have fewer spatial constraints. We aim to examine the efficacy of a multidomain intervention through both face-to-face interactions and video communication platforms using a tablet personal computer (PC) application in MCI.

Methods

Three hundred participants aged 60-85 years, with MCI and at least one modifiable dementia risk factor, will be recruited from 17 centers and randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to the multidomain intervention and the waiting-list control groups. Participants will receive the 24-week intervention through the tablet PC SUPERBRAIN application, which encompasses the following five elements: managing metabolic and vascular risk factors, cognitive training, physical exercise, nutritional guidance, and boosting motivation. Participants will attend the interventions at a facility every 1-2 weeks. They will also engage in one or two self-administered cognitive training sessions utilizing the tablet PC application at home each week. They will participate in twice or thrice weekly online exercise sessions at home via the ZOOM platform. The primary outcome will be the change in the total scale index score of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status from baseline to study end.

Conclusions

This study will inform the effectiveness of a comprehensive multidomain intervention utilizing digital technologies in MCI.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05023057.

Exploring observed and instructed mHealth use in the middle-aged and elderly people (MAEP): A social learning perspective

Objective

Based on social learning theory, this study aimed to explore the intention of middle-aged and elderly people (MAEP) to engage with mobile health (mHealth) and the underlying effects of usability and utility. The goal was to garner insights that could enhance the advancement of mHealth and improve the scope of benefits of mHealth use among MAEP in the future.

Methods

We employed a survey-based approach to delve into the mHealth use intentions among MAEP individuals aged 45 and above. A total of 371 valid survey responses were collected and analyzed using SmartPLS 3.0 for statistical examination and model verification.

Results

Our hypotheses tests revealed that vicarious utility fully mediated the relationship between observed use and direct use intention and both indirect use intentions. Instructed usability and instructed utility were found to fully and partially mediate the relationship between instructed use and indirect use intention, respectively.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that the observed and instructed use behaviors of MAEP can promote their eventual intention to adopt mHealth through processes of observational and reinforcement learning. These findings underscore the importance of understanding the underlying effects of MAEP's intention to use mHealth is critical to increasing their adoption of mHealth, and thereby potentially improving their health outcomes.