Empowering Older Adults Through Digital Training Activities: Experiences from Hong Kong

Older people are the generation overlooked by technological development trends. They face many challenges but receive little support. The main difficulties include skill and knowledge limitations, a lack of social support, and physical and cognitive impairments.

This qualitative study explored older participants? involvement in digital training classes and intergenerational technology-related activities. It found that those who enrolled in the intergenerational digital activities gained new meaning in life and a sense of fulfilment. Participants overcame their hesitations and embraced the digital world thanks to the welcoming environment, with the involvement of youth volunteers from the community. However, they generally had poorer memory for operating mobile devices and applications. Intergenerational dialogue and engagement fostered greater understanding, support, and encouragement between generations. Participants recognised the potential for meaningful interactions and a more diverse society, and they reported feeling happy about these collaborations.

It is recommended that human service providers and technological designers should teach beyond applications and go for the holistic operational logic of the gadgets for older learners, provide more intensive and immersive support for their continuous learning, and empower them through more cohesive intergenerational interactions, from which they could gain technological knowledge and insights from the young people.