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Review
. 2023 Sep 13;9(9):e20111.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20111. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Factors influencing technology use among low-income older adults: A systematic review

Diana Yian Lian Chan  1 , Shaun Wen Huey Lee  2   3   4 , Pei-Lee Teh  1   4
Affiliations
Review

Factors influencing technology use among low-income older adults: A systematic review

Diana Yian Lian Chan et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

As the world's aging population increases, leveraging technology to support aging is proving advantageous. Notably, technology adoption studies among older adults have received increasing scholarly attention, but findings from these studies do not reflect the context of low-income older adults. Studies focusing on low-income older adults were relatively few and it remains unclear which factors influence this group's technology use. This systematic review aims to synthesize findings on factors influencing technology use among low-income older adults to provide directions and opportunities for future research in information systems. Observing the literature through the lens of Social Cognitive Theory, we identified avenues for future research and further integrated the framework with Maslow's hierarchy of needs to elucidate the phenomenon. Findings from this systematic review suggest that both personal and environmental factors, such as cognitions, affects, sociodemographic characteristics, technological and social environment are significant predictors of technology use among low-income older adults. Specifically, factors related to accessibility and affordability, such as income, perceived cost, and accessibility to technology are salient in a resource-limited setting. More importantly, the technology usage behavior elucidate the embeddedness of fundamental human needs which plays a central role underlying technology use among this segment. However, more research is needed to understand the interaction between person, environment and behavior determinant shaping technology use among low-income older adults from diverse economic and cultural setting. This study also sheds light on disciplinary gaps and the lack of investigations anchored on theoretical foundations, and suggests avenues for future research and implications for practice.

Keywords: Low-income older adults; Maslow's hierarchy of needs; Social cognitive theory; Systematic literature review; Technology use/ adoption.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA 2020 flow diagram of an overview of literature search and identification process.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
An overview of the number of studies conducted over time across disciplines.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
An overview of research trend of low-income older adults' technology use across disciplines.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
An integrative framework of factors related to low-income older adults’ use of technology.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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