Caregiver's Use of Technology

The PEW Research Center has just published a report, "Family Caregivers are Wired for Health", about how caregivers use the internet to get health information. Thirty-nine percent of Americans care for an adult or child with serious health issues. Seventy-two percent of these caregivers search online for health information. This report found that caregivers are more likely than other internet users to:

• Gather health information online, particularly about medical problems, treatments, and drugs.
• Go online specifically to try to figure out what condition they or someone else might have.
• Consult online reviews about drugs and other treatments.
• Go online to find others with similar health concerns.

You can access the complete report here.

Social Networking Websites Increase in Popularity

Older adults have dramatically increased their use of social networking websites, such as Facebook. A PEW Research Center social networking report has found that 57% of internet users age 50-64 use social networking websites, while 38% of those age 65+ use these sites. Facebook is the most popular social network for older adults, with 56% of internet users age 50-64 using this website and 40% of those age 65+ using this website ("Photos and Videos as Social Currency Online" by Lee Rainie et al.). People use Facebook to stay in contact with friends and family and to share their pictures. Older adults are also using LinkedIn for career networking and Pinterest to share images.  
Why are social networks so popular? A PEW Research Center study investigated the social impact of social networking and found that:

• The average user of a social networking site has more close ties and is half as likely to be socially isolated as the average American.
• Facebook revives “dormant” relationships.
• Internet users get more support from their social ties and Facebook users get the most support.
• Facebook users have more close relationships.

You can access the full report here.

New Study of Older Adult Internet Use

 The Pew Internet and American Life Project has published a new report called "Older Adults and Internet Use". This report was based on a telephone survey of 2,254 adults in April 2012, which asked about American's use of the internet. Here are some of the highlights of the report which concern older adults:

• 53% of Americans age 65+ use the internet or email 
• Of those Seniors who go online, 70% use the internet on a typical day.
• Only 34% of adults age 75+ use the internet 
• 69% of adults age 65+ own a cell phone
• 34% of internet users age 65+ use Facebook or other social networking sites (this is quite an increase - since only 13% used these sites in 2009).
• 11% own an e-book reader
• 8% own a tablet

You can read the full report here.

Pew Generations 2010

 Pew Internet has published the results of their Generations 2010 report. This report was based on a telephone survey of 2,252 adults, which asked about American's use of the internet. This report had three age categories for older adults: older boomers, ages 56-64; the Silent Generation, ages 65-73; and the G.I. generation ages 74 and above. Here are some of the highlights of the report which concern older adults:

• 76% of Older Boomers use the internet.
• 58% of the Silent Generation use the internet.
• 30% of the G.I. Generation use the internet.
• 44% of the Silent Generation have searched for financial information and this percentage is higher than for any other age group.
• All three "older adult" age groups have greatly increased their use of social network sites - with the percentage of the G.I. Generation who use Social Networking sites increasing from 4% in 2008 to 16% in 2010!
• 76% of Older Boomers get news online.
• Email is the top online activity for all "older adult" age groups, followed by "search", and then "finding health information".

The full report can be accessed here.

New Statistics on Internet Use by Older Adults

The Neilsen Company has recently published a report that shows that internet use by Seniors has increased 55% in the last five years.  This is an increase of over 6 million Seniors!  According to this study, the top five online activities for people 65 and older were:

• Personal email  88.6%
  
• Viewed or printed maps online  68.6%
• Checked weather online  60.1%
• Paid/viewed  bills online   51.2%
  
• Viewed/posted photos online  50.1%

The top 5 online destinations for people 65 and older were:

• Google Search
• Windows Media Player
• Facebook
• Youtube
• Amazon

Facebook showed the biggest increase in use by older adults - it ranked 45th last year and is now ranked 3rd.

New Study about Internet Use

A new study from the AARP and the Center for the Digital Future has shown some interesting new trends in internet use by older adults (50+). A news release from AARP summarized some of the results of this study:

• Older adult internet users access news information online more often than do internet users under 20 years of age.
  

• 18% of older adult internet users play online games at least once per day.

• 68% browse and buy items online.

• 46% use the internet to maintain social relationships

• Of those 50+ who are involved in online communities, 70% state that these communities are very important to them.

This news release quoted Jeffrey I. Cole, director of the Center for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School for communication, as saying "In specific areas, there is often little difference in use of online technology between older users and some of the youngest users."

More highlights of this study can be found here.