A total of 19 widowed older adults were interviewed with a mean age of 73.84 years (range 64 - 87 years). Twelve (63.16%) were women; and seven (36.84%) were men. Thirteen (68.42%) lived alone. Fifteen participants (78.95%) had chronic diseases. Two participants had physical dysfunction due to Parkinson disease and visual impairment. The detailed characteristics of the participants are shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1 Demographic characteristics of the participants
Variables
|
|
Age
|
|
60-69
|
6
|
70-79
|
8
|
80-89
|
5
|
Gender
|
|
Male
|
7
|
Female
|
12
|
Education
|
|
Illiteracy
|
1
|
Primary school
|
4
|
Junior high
|
10
|
Senior high
|
3
|
College
|
1
|
Widowhood period (years)
|
|
≤1
|
4
|
2-4
|
6
|
≥5
|
9
|
Type of residence
|
|
Live alone
|
13
|
Live with children
|
5
|
Live with grandchildren
|
1
|
Monthly income (CNY)
|
|
1000-2000
|
4
|
2001-3999
|
12
|
≥4000
|
3
|
Pension source
|
|
Retirement allowance
|
15
|
Commercial insurance
|
3
|
Funds by the adult children
|
1
|
Number of chronic disease
|
|
None
|
4
|
1-2
|
13
|
≥3
|
2
|
Data analysis revealed two major themes. These themes included benefits (benefit perception, health promotion, emotional comfort, social connection) and barriers (worries: personal economic loss, concerns: security of digital device, troublesome: the diversity of online social participation, difficulties: using digital media). The domains of the themes are presented in detail in Figure 1.
Benefits
Benefit perception
Almost all of the interviewees could perceive the advantages of online social participation, including convenience, flexible time, and supplementation.
The first benefit is convenience. Most participants talked about that they could get involved in online activities anytime and anywhere.
I mainly use mobile chat application to communicate with family members and friends. I can chat with distant relatives and friends in my own home. I find the communication between people is closer ... You can see each other through video chat, which is convenient to know their current situation... (D)
I like all kinds of online activities, such as social networking, shopping, online learning etc., which provide great convenience. (N)
Flexible time is another advantage. Some interviewees reported that they did not have time to get involved in some offline activities with friends, because they had to help their children with household work and took care of their grandchildren. However, they could use their spare time to participate in online activities.
It’s happier to go outside with friends. I’m willing to participate in outdoor activities, but I don’t have time. I have to look after my youngest grandson ... As long as I am free at home, I would contact with someone else by mobile chat app, as well as watch videos, browse news and health information. (G)
Supplementation is also an important superiority. Some interviewees described that age-related changes in physical health and function could increase vulnerability to the elderly, which would limited the older adults to participate in offline activities. Meanwhile, the outbreak of infectious disease also lead to the limitation of offline social participation. However, to a certain extent, online activities can make up for the insufficient of social participation. The older adults can rely on internet and smart phone to participate in online activities, and they don’t have to go out.
I have rarely been out since I was diagnosed with Parkinson two years ago ... I like chatting with my friends by phone. (I)
Because of the outbreak of COVID-19, we couldn’t go out and meet my friends and relative, and only interact with them online. (D)
Health promotion
It’s helpful to promote healthy behaviors through online activities. With the increase of age, the older adults begin to pay attention to information on health promotion and disease prevention, such as diet and nutrition, exercise, medication.
I often pay attention to health information on my phone. I can't ignore that knowledge, because I need to know how to take medicine, how to eat healthier. (N)
Several interviewees talked about they would exercise according to the fitness videos sent to their phone by other people.
I will follow the fitness videos sent by relatives or friends to exercise. (M)
Emotional comfort
For the widowed older adults, they may experience negative emotions such as grief, loneliness, depression, and exclusion, as well as feel social isolated. However, they could get emotional comfort through online social participation.
Interviewees talked about they felt happy when they contacted with family and friends through messages, voice or video chat.
I often have video chat with my family at night, and I feel happy when I see my grandson. (G)
Most of the interviewees described online activities help to relieve loneliness, because they experienced acute loneliness after being widowed, especially for the older adults who lived alone.
I lived alone, and when I felt lonely at home, I would watch some interesting videos, and chat with friends on my phone. Additionally, I would pay attention to the life that my friends shared on social media, and write some comments on theirs. (R)
Social connection
Online social networking can also facilitate contacts with relatives and friends. The interviewees stated they had frequent interaction with family and friends through mobile chat application. They often share articles, pictures, news, or videos with relatives and friends.
I like contacting with my good friends. I often actively send them articles, which are meaningful, humorous, or educational, and they also send some to me. (N)
More than half of participants described that they have difficulties to use smart phone and corresponding mobile application at first, but they would seek help from relatives and friends, and this purposeful work also promote the connection with them.
I didn't know how to use it at first, then my daughter had taught me, and I was humble to study myself. Now there is no problem to use it. (N)
When I didn’t know how to operate, I asked for help form my friends. Because of my friends, I could use chat application. (M)
Barriers
Worries: personal economic loss
Older people’s worries about economic losses come from both personal and external reasons.
Visual degradation are common among the elderly, which would lower the older people’ acceptance and openness towards online activities. Concretely, some interviewees with bad eyesight reject online shopping for the fear of economic loss due to operation mistake.
I don’t like online shopping, because I have bad eyesight, and I am worried about making mistakes. (D)
For online shopping, it is inevitable that online shopping platforms will require personal information. However, some Trojan software, Internet interception and violent attack can snatch people's payment passwords while shopping online. Moreover, the unending fake websites and false information, together with new frauds taking place in succession will increase potential risks of online payment security. This was confirmed among most of our interviewees; as they were concerned about being cheated in online shopping:
I would definitely not go shopping online, because we can't see through everything as we age. There are so many cheaters on the Internet, I’m a little bit worried. (M)
I don’t want to pay for something with my phone, because I am worried that others will know my bank card number and steal my money. (Q)
Concerns: security of digital device
Digital devices familiar to the older people include smart phones, computers, digital TVs, etc.. In this study, several widowed older adults expressed their concerns about the safety of digital devices:
I have read a piece of video news about phone exploding, so I’m worried that the smart phone would explode when it’s charging. (M)
Troublesome: the diversity of online social participation
Driven by the wave of global information, people have been woven into the entire social network, which not only meet the basic physiological needs, such as reservation service and shopping, but also achieve self-value, including economic, cultural and political participation, etc.. However, the interviewees described that diversified forms of online social participation also bring confusion and trouble.
There are many activities I can take part in through smart phones. Meanwhile, these diversified activities have brought me some confusion. Concretely, as older people, I don’t have good eyesight and enough energy now, and I don’t know which activities are suitable for me. Therefore, I can’t get involved in all the activities, and I just choose some of them that I am interested in and benefit from. (N)
Difficulties: using digital media
New digital media including personal computer, smart phone, and the corresponding application software, has attracted an increasingly attention to the older adults, but they are still new to the older people. As a result, most of the interviewees described they had difficulties in using digital media and lacked of self-confidence in using digital media.
I just know how to do simple operations on a smart phone, of course, it’s difficult for me to do complicated ones. For example, I don’t know how to complete the payment when shopping online. (P)
We are old and don’t know how to use these, because we haven’t learned them before. You know, it’s not easy for us to use smart phone and computer. We are afraid of making mistakes. (Q)