LAST UPDATED : 6 July 2020
Insights from the Global Centre for Modern Ageing’s (GCMA) second survey into Australians’ response to COVID-19 restrictions.
Technology – Use, Confidence, and Context
Older Australians are adopting technology in response to pandemic restrictions.
Here, we summarise some of the key technology behaviours emerging during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many respondents already had some experience with technology, prior to COVID-19.
Research by National Seniors in 2019 found that 70% of older Australians use a search engine every day, and 68% do not get frustrated with technology (1).
Broadband in the home became available more than twenty years ago, making it routine household technology for many Australians who are now in their 60’s or older.
Indeed, it is important to acknowledge that GCMA’s survey is online, so respondents were, at the very least, digital users with an email address.
Also, our sample was not limited to older people. A total of 1,242 respondents were aged 18 years or over. 59% were aged 60 years or over.
First Time Use
23% of Australians aged 60 or older used technology that is new to them, since the pandemic started (eg. iPad or apps smartphone apps, or video calls).
This presents an opportunity for organisations to onboard older Australians to digital platforms, during a time when they are open to trial and new usage.
Increased Confidence
34% of the over 60’s are ‘more confident’ with technology than before the Covid-19 outbreak.
46% said their confidence had not increased, because they were ‘already confident’.
Among the 23% of over 60’s who used a technology for the first time,
56% now feel more confident with technology.
COVID-19 has provided impetus for the use of technology, and our research indicates that many older Australians have become more confident users as a result.
There is a window of opportunity for organisations to engage with older technology users, learn from them, and improve their user experience and interactions.
Safety & Convenience - Telehealth vs. Online Groceries
Our recent insights about older Australians using telehealth as a result of COVID-19 restrictions showed that they acknowledged the necessity of the use of technology, and also appreciated the convenience.
Telehealth and online grocery shopping, both platforms for essential services, provide convenience and safety during COVID-19.
However their uptake is markedly different.
Our survey reported that since the outbreak, 22% of the over 60s had an online consultation with a health professional, and 44% had a telephone consultation, with high satisfaction levels.
Comparatively, in the fortnight prior to the survey, only 19% used online shopping.
For Australians aged 60 or older, indeed, of any age, grocery shopping is likely to be more frequent than medical consultations.
With this in mind, 19% of respondents using online grocery services, during a pandemic, seems like a low uptake.
It is unclear why older Australians are not taking up online grocery shopping in larger numbers. But it is an opportunity, and points to the need for further enquiry, as there are potential benefits to business, families, and community.
Consider also, 46% of our over 60s respondents claim to have downloaded the COVIDSafe app, comparable to 48% of the under 60s.
Outtakes
It is important to discard outdated assumptions. Many older Australians are tech-proficient. While some older Australians aredigitally excluded, age alone is not a useful predictor of technological proficiency. Older Australians are a diverse group.
This points to the need for deeper enquiry about digital inclusion and literacy to inform policy and strategy about areas such as telehealth as it becomes more mainstream. Engaging an older cohort with digital communications and interactions requires an inclusive approach, and a commitment to universal design principles.
Building an understanding of why some digital solutions are adopted at higher rates than others may offer transferrable learnings, improving design, development and marketing. The best way of building that understanding is to bring older users, and non-users, to the centre of the design process.
That requires specialist insight into the cohort of targeted users but also, the incorporation of the context of adoption, or impetus for behavioural change.
For example, the numbers show that the population largely acknowledges the benefits of the COVIDSafe app, as it addresses an unmet need. It is not replacing anything. It is first, and its proposition is unique.
On the other hand, online grocery delivery may not have been presented compellingly enough for it to replace the familiar bricks and mortar experience, even though it potentially brings community health benefits, comparable to the COVIDSafe app.
To drive clear and confident improvements to digital interactions with an older cohort, the key is to be informed by proven, well governed research methodologies that harness people’s experience.
Sources:
1. Senior Surfers, Diverse levels of digital literacy among older Australians, August 2019, N = 5,446, aged 50+.
____________
The Global Centre for Modern Ageing are undertaking three waves of research into older Australians’ wellbeing and response to COVID-19 restrictions. The above findings refer to Wave 2. N = 1,242. Survey period, May 2020.
