[Doing vulnerability : The social construction of age(ing) during the COVID-19 pandemic]. / Doing Vulnerability : Soziale Konstruktionen des Alter(n)s während der COVID-19 Pandemie.

BACKGROUND: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic old age has been "vulnerablilized" in the media by characterizing old age as a vulnerable and risky phase of life. Gerontologists have criticized the age-based definition of risk groups for their underlying agism. OBJECTIVE: From a practice-theoretical perspective the article asks through which social practices a vulnerable age is realized during the COVID-19 pandemic. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The article refers to data from six qualitative interviews with people aged 65 and older. The data was analyzed using fine structure analysis followed by a topic analysis. RESULTS: The results show that during the COVID-19 pandemic doing age was characterized by a not doing or the disappearance of routinized everyday practices. For the respondents this not doing age was connected to experiencing vulnerable ageing, in which they felt physically and temporally vulnerable. DISCUSSION: Practices of aging during the COVID-19 pandemic have developed against the backdrop of a societal discourse that has positioned activity as an indicator of good and positive aging. At the same time few opportunities have been created to maintain activity under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Multilevel Model of Older Adults' Appropriation of ICT and Acquisition of Digital Literacy.

Digital literacy refers to a set of competencies related to the skilled use of computers and information technology. Low digital skills can be a barrier for older adults' full participation in a digital society, and COVID-19 has increased this risk of social exclusion. Older adults' digital inclusion is a complex process that consists of the interplay of structural and individual factors. The ACCESS project unwrapped the complexity of the process and developed an innovative, multilevel model that illustrates how societal, institutional, material and pedagogical aspects shape adults' appropriation of digital literacy. A holistic model describes factors contributing to older adults' digital literacy, acknowledging sociocultural contexts, environments, learning settings and instruction practices for learning digital literacy. Instead of seeing older adults' reasons for learning digital skills purely as individual choice, this model recognizes the interpersonal, institutional and societal aspects that implicitly or explicitly influence older adults' acquisition of digital literacy. The results offer a tool for stakeholders, the research community, companies, designers and other relevant stakeholders to consider digital skills and the given support. It demands diverse communication between different stakeholders about the things that should be discussed when organizing digital support in digitalized societies.

[Influence of social contacts on corona concerns in the nursing home population : Quantitative cross-sectional survey]. / Einfluss sozialer Beziehungen auf Corona-Sorgen bei der Pflegeheim-Bevölkerung : Quantitative Querschnittsbefragung.

BACKGROUND: During the pandemic caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in spring and summer 2020, the anxiety and concerns of residents living in long-term care facilities about contracting and falling ill from the virus (corona concerns) increased. Contact to close persons represents an important asset in coping with concerns or anxiety; however, this was strictly regulated particularly in nursing facilities. Therefore, an elevated psychological burden was assumed; however, there is a lack of representative data. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to answer the question: how do social contacts influence the corona concerns of long-term nursing home residents? MATERIAL AND METHODS: In summer 2020 a representative sample of 259 long-term nursing home residents in the whole of Austria participated in a standardized face-to-face interview. RESULTS: Firstly, the data show a high emotional burden in nursing home residents; however, many residents also demonstrated a certain degree of mental resilience. Secondly, there was an association between emotional loneliness and higher corona concerns (odds ratio, OR = 2.30; p < 0.01). Thirdly, a frequent contact with relatives via telephone or in person also related to higher corona concerns (OR = 1.32; p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In the current times, when one crisis is replaced by the next, more knowledge is needed about the mental resilience of long-term nursing home residents and how it can be promoted. Furthermore, more knowledge is needed about the role of relatives and whether they are more the origin of concerns or they represent a strategy for coping with concerns.

"But at the age of 85? Forget it!": Internalized ageism, a barrier to technology use.

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored how everyday information and communication technology (EICT), such as online banking, e-shopping, or e-mail, are essential for individuals of all ages to maintain activity engagement, health, and well-being. Yet, older adults are often stereotypically portrayed as incapable, technophobic, or unwilling to engage in EICT. This may further contribute to the digital divide, as age stereotypes have the power to act like self-fulfilling prophecies and impede older adults' engagement in complex everyday life tasks. This study aimed to shed light on internalized ageism as manifested in older non-users' narrations about EICT use. It further explored how age stereotypes in the context of EICT are constructed and perpetuated through disempowering and ageist environments. A qualitative approach was applied, performing semi-structured interviews in participants' homes (N = 15). Data were analyzed following the principles of qualitative content analysis, applying both deductive categorization and inductive coding. Internalized ageism appeared to be an omnipresent element in older adults' narrations about EICT non-use. This was reflected in the four subcategories "competence and learning", "relevance and use", "technology design", and "intergenerational contact". Ageism, as manifested in the social environment and the design of technology, seemingly contributed to the internalization of age stereotypes and low EICT engagement. This research calls for inclusive technology designs, ageism-free EICT learning settings, and awareness campaigns about lifelong learning to help close the digital divide and ensure optimal aging experiences for older people.

Doing digital exclusion - technology practices of older internet non-users.

Gerontological literature has widely explored barriers to technology use in later life, often drawing upon binary conceptualizations of "using" and "not using" a certain technological device. However, such concepts have been increasingly up for debate. Using a praxeological approach, this study aims to explore technology use and non-use in later life not as dichotomous counterparts, but as routine experiences that take place in the everyday lives of older adults, asking: Which technology practices that go beyond using and not using a certain device can be found in the everyday lives of older non-users? How are these practices related to experiences of age and aging? The paper draws upon data from 15 semi-structured interviews with older adults (65+) in Austria, who self-identify as 'non-users' of digital technologies. Data was analyzed using thematic coding (Flick, 2016) and revealed that while interviewees saw themselves as "non-users" of digital technologies, they all regularly engaged with digital technologies in their daily lives. These manifold everyday engagements with digital technologies can be summarized as four bundles of technology practices: (1) avoidance practices, (2) usage practices, (3) appropriation practices, and (4) subjectivation practices. Non-users regularly engaged in and transitioned between these practice bundles. Not using digital technologies therefore emerged as an ambivalent, everyday experience, rather than an actual practice pattern that can be measured using binary categories of 'use' and 'non-use'. By understanding the use and non-use of digital technologies in later life not as binary counterparts, but as an active process of doing, this paper highlights how the use and non-use of digital technologies is not a rational decision, but rather an ensemble of avoidance, usage, and appropriation practices that older adults experience and negotiate in their everyday lives. This paper therefore suggests moving away from technology use and non-use as central concepts for studying technology in later life, and instead questioning which practices are valued as a 'right' or 'real' way of using digital technologies, and which are devalued as 'wrong' usage.

COVID-19: Technology, Social Connections, Loneliness, and Leisure Activities: An International Study Protocol.

Drawn from the stress process model, the pandemic has imposed substantial stress to individual economic and mental well-being and has brought unprecedented disruptions to social life. In light of social distancing measures, and in particular physical distancing because of lockdown policies, the use of digital technologies has been regarded as the alternative to maintain economic and social activities. This paper aims to describe the design and implementation of an online survey created as an urgent, international response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The online survey described here responds to the need of understanding the effects of the pandemic on social interactions/relations and to provide findings on the extent to which digital technology is being utilized by citizens across different communities and countries around the world. It also aims to analyze the association of use of digital technologies with psychological well-being and levels of loneliness. The data will be based on the ongoing survey (comprised of several existing and validated instruments on digital use, psychological well-being and loneliness), open for 3 months after roll out (ends September) across 11 countries (Austria, France, Germany, India, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey, and UK). Participants include residents aged 18 years and older in the countries and snowball sampling is employed via social media platforms. We anticipate that the findings of the survey will provide useful and much needed information on the prevalence of use and intensities of digital technologies among different age groups, gender, socioeconomic groups in a comparative perspective. Moreover, we expect that the future analysis of the data collected will show that different types of digital technologies and intensities of use are associated with psychological well-being and loneliness. To conclude, these findings from the study are expected to bring in our understanding the role of digital technologies in affecting individual social and emotional connections during a crisis.