Exploring Privilege in the Digital Divide: Implications for Theory, Policy, and Practice
Open accessAbstract
Background and Objectives: The digital revolution has resulted in innovative solutions and technologies that can support the well-being, independence, and health of seniors. Yet, the notion of the “digital divide” presents significant inequities in terms of who accesses and benefits from the digital landscape. To better understand the social and structural inequities of the digital divide, a realist synthesis was conducted to inform theoretical understandings of information and communication technologies (ICTs); to understand the practicalities of access and use inequities; to uncover practices that facilitate digital literacy and participation; and to recommend policies to mitigate the digital divide. Research Design and Methods: A systematic search yielded 55 articles published between 2006 and 2016. Synthesis of existing knowledge, combined with user-experience elicited through a deliberative dialogue session with community stakeholders (n = 35), made visible a pattern of privilege that determined individual agency in ICT access and use. Results: Though age is consistently centralized as the key determinant of the digital divide, our analyses, which encompassed both van Dijk’s resources and appropriation theory and intersectionality, appraised this notion and revealed that age is not the sole determinant. Findings highlight the role of other factors that contribute to digital inequity among community-dwelling middle-aged (45–64) and older (65+) adults, including education, income, gender, and generational status. Discussion and Implications: Informed by results of a realist synthesis that was guided by intersectional perspectives, a conceptual framework was developed outlining implications for theory, policy, and practice to address the wicked problem that is the digital divide.
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Having a device does not mean older adults know how to use it or feel comfortable with it.
“The majority of older adults do own a device and go online; unfortunately, device ownership does not translate to knowledge and comfort with devices.3”
From Promoting Technology and Virtual Visits to Improve Older Adult Mental Health in the Face of COVID-19 (2020) · cites this paper as [3]
The “Broadening knowledge” section describes lack of skills and familiarity and says ICT use can feel daunting to middle-aged and older adults, supporting the point that access to a device does not ensure knowledge or comfort. The cited sentence also says a majority of older adults own a device and go online; our copy does not establish that majority claim. Page numbers were not available in the indexed passages. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredMost older adults possess a device and use the internet.
“The majority of older adults do own a device and go online; unfortunately, device ownership does not translate to knowledge and comfort with devices.3”
From Promoting Technology and Virtual Visits to Improve Older Adult Mental Health in the Face of COVID-19 (2020) · cites this paper as [3]
The Age section says older adults are less likely to use the Internet and gives regular-use rates below 50% for several groups over 70. It does not establish whether a majority of older adults overall own a device or go online. Searches for majority Internet use and device ownership found no passage establishing those claims; page numbers were unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.76)
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- Authors
- Fang, M. L., Canham, S. L., Battersby, L., Sixsmith, J., Wada, M., & Sixsmith, A.
- Affiliations
- Simon Fraser University (CA)
- Gerontology Research Centre, Vancouver, Canada
- University of Dundee (GB)
- Heriot-Watt University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Fang, Mei Lan
- Venue
- The Gerontologist
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2018-05-10
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- e1-e15
- ISSN
- 0016-9013 (ISSN-L)
- 1758-5341
- OpenAlex
- W2802606063
- Cited by
- 353
- References
- 76
- Citations by year
- 2026: 68 · 2025: 44 · 2024: 56 · 2023: 41 · 2022: 56 · 2021: 43 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 5.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- The Gerontologist (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Discovery Research Portal (University of Dundee) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (421-2015-2014)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Technology Use by Older Adults
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Media Technology › ICT Impact and Policies
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › ICT in Developing Communities
- Keywords
- digital divide, older adults, digital literacy, information and communication technologies, intersectionality, ageism, social inequities, digital inclusion policy, community-dwelling adults, middle-aged adults, income and education disparities, gender disparities, generational status
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Humans, Middle Aged, Public Policy, Internet, Independent Living, Digital Divide
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