What facilitates the acceptance of technology to promote social participation in later life? A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Social participation is an important aspect of health and well-being across the lifespan, but older adults might encounter some barriers, which has been highlighted in the current Covid-19 pandemic situation, where technology has become the primary way to maintain contact with family and friends. In fact, technology can serve both as a facilitator and barrier to social participation in later life, and this issue needs to be further understood. AIM: To identify the barriers and facilitators encountered by older adults in using technology to promote social participation. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted. Studies were included if they were peer-reviewed, written in English or French, included participants 50 years or older, included technology to promote social participation, and reported potential barriers or facilitators regarding such technologies. Four databases were included: MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsychINFO and, ERIC. Each study was reviewed by two independent reviewers. The quality of the study was appraised using the Crowe Critical Appraisal Tool. RESULTS: Seventeen studies were included in this report. Four main themes emerged from the data: perceived benefits of the technology, self-confidence and knowledge about using the technology efficiently and safely, affordability of the technology, and ability of the technology to adapt to the physical and cognitive declines in later life. CONCLUSION: These findings can help health care professionals to make better decisions when deciding to recommend technology for their older clients.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONAcceptance of technology to promote social participation in later life is a multi-complex process. There is no "one size fits all" approach, a person-centered intervention must be used.When introducing new technologies, using an adapted/tailored training approach could potentially increase self-efficacy in using technology.Rehabilitation professionals' misconceptions concerning the use of technology in later life can be a barrier to acceptance. It's important to be aware of our own believes and attitudes in this context.

Person-reported perspectives on support availability for people with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the perception of the availability of community support and the support needs of autistic people and people with disabilities, from their own perspectives and from those of their caregivers at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec, to assess the association between the available support and the perceived stress levels to evaluate the role of perceived social support as a potential buffer of this association. METHODS: A total of 315 respondents participated in a 4-min online survey across the province of Quebec by snowball sampling. Community support was defined as availability of adapted healthcare, adapted information, adapted educational services and community services. RESULTS: The community support and services during the COVID-19 pandemic were not available or were not sufficiently adapted to their needs. About 40% of autistic people or people with disabilities and 44% of their caregivers perceived their days as being quite stressful or extremely stressful. This is twice the rate of that of the general population in non-pandemic time. Nevertheless, social supports can play a mediating role in attenuating the effects of the absence of adapted services on the stress level of this vulnerable population. CONCLUSION: The non-availability of adapted services was related to an increase in the stress level in this population. Our study adds that other than social support, adapted healthcare/tele-healthcare and in-home support services could reduce the impact of the pandemic on the stress level of autistic people and people with disabilities. Adapted educational services and necessary equipment for online education for people without resources could reduce the impact on the stress level in caregivers. People with disabilities and their caregivers are one of the most vulnerable groups in our society. Public health measures of containment and mitigation need to consider more their specific needs.

RéSUMé: OBJECTIF: Identifier la perception de la disponibilité du soutien communautaire et les besoins de soutien des personnes autistes et des personnes en situation de handicap, de leurs perspectives mêmes et de celles de leurs aidants durant la pandémie de COVID-19 au Québec, et évaluer l'association entre le soutien disponible et les niveaux de stress perçus afin d'évaluer le rôle du soutien social perçu comme un médiateur de cette association. MéTHODE: Un total de 315 répondants ont participé à un sondage en ligne de 4 minutes à travers la province de Québec par échantillonnage en boule de neige. Le soutien communautaire a été défini comme la disponibilité de soins de santé, d'informations, et de services éducatifs et communautaires adaptés à leurs besoins. RéSULTATS: Le soutien communautaire, et les services disponibles pendant la pandémie de la COVID-19, n'étaient pas disponibles ou étaient insuffisamment adaptés à leurs besoins. Environ 40 % des personnes autistes ou en situation de handicap et 44 % de leurs proches aidants perçoivent leurs journées comme assez ou extrêmement stressantes. C'est deux fois plus que le taux dans la population générale en période non pandémique. Néanmoins, le soutien social peut jouer un rôle médiateur en atténuant les effets de l'absence de services adaptés sur le niveau de stress de ces populations vulnérables. CONCLUSION: La non-disponibilité de services adaptés augmente le niveau de stress de cette population. Notre étude ajoute que, outre le soutien social, les soins de santé adaptés, les services de soutien à domicile et les soins de santé à distance pourraient réduire l'impact de la pandémie sur le niveau de stress des personnes autistes et en situation de handicap et que les services éducatifs adaptés et l'aide à l'éducation à distance pourraient réduire l'impact sur le niveau de stress des proches aidants. Les personnes en situation de handicap et leurs proches aidants constituent l'un des groupes les plus vulnérables de notre société. Les mesures de santé publique d'atténuation de la pandémie doivent tenir compte de leurs besoins.