This paper (Zorrilla-Muñoz et al., in press) aims to know the psychosocial impact addressed to the behaviours and, the perception of technological needs in adults and older persons with diseases, health problems and/or sensory or motor disabilities. This work delves into this reality from a gender, inclusive and, at the same time, technological, biotechnological and/or virtual device approach.
The goal includes two secondary objectives: 1) To know the health conditions of the adult and older people when they are suffering chronic diseases and/or other diseases (such as cancer, hip fracture, among others). In this way, it will be possible to understand if there are specific conditions in which the adult and older persons have felt especially sensitive during the pandemic outbreak in Spain. 2) To understand the needs of older people with sensory or motor disabilities before the pandemic and how this connects with future activities after COVID-19.
One conclusion is new emerging technologies are more and more essential during and after the pandemic. The social and hygiene behaviours and restrictions are forced to design more inclusive, adaptative, functional, usable and ergonomic and medical devices. In the design it is important to highlight the consideration of aids to improve autonomy and independence - such as canes and support systems in functional disability type EGARA (http://bastonegara.es/) - of older persons-. In this context it is still unpredictable how future behaviors will develop for adults and older people. However, older people with chronic diseases and at risk of complications from COVID-19 look cautiously to the social behaviors in future. In this sense, technology could be a favorable element that helps social participation. For example, recent studies show the generational technological gap is decreasing, but it still exists in relation to the use of technologies and digital healthcare (Agulló-Tomás y Zorrilla Muñoz, 2020; Criado-Quesada et al., 2021). Moreover, the influence of technology and gender on the older people perceived health is clear, but needs more research and assessment, especially in the current pandemic context. Another example of these intragenerational and intergender inequalities is the images of older women, which are still scarce or skewed (https://encage-cm.es/, see Adá-Lameiras et al., 2020; Agulló-Tomás y Zorrilla-Muñoz, 2020, and data from Observatorio Nacional de las Telecomunicaciones y de la Sociedad de Ia Información, 2016). There are also differences in environments according to socio-spatial access.
In summary, there is a need to continue researching psychosocial questions about the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The adoption of a gender, socio-spatial, technological and intergenerational approach could be a key factor to better understand the perception of health and point towards programmes and policies. In summary, these aspects are in favour of better health and social sustainability, satisfaction and quality of life during and after COVID-19 for the older people and moreover, in the case of carer older women, older people with disabilities, chronic diseases, mobility problems and/or dependency situations.
REFERENCES:
- Adá-Lameiras, A., Hernández-Fernández, A. M., Zorrilla-Muñoz, V. y Agulló-Tomás, M. S. (2020). Edadismo, sexismo y discapacitismo: un análisis desde Twitter en tiempos de la Covid-19. Avances de Investigación en Salud a lo largo del Ciclo Vital. Nuevas realidades (pp. 135-146). Dykinson.
- Agulló-Tomás, M. S. y Zorrilla-Muñoz, V. (2020). Technologies and Images of Older Women. Human Aspects of Information Technology for the Aged Population (12209), 163-175. Springer: Berlin, Germany. ISBN 978-3-030-50231-7 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50232-4_12
- Criado-Quesada, B., Zorrilla-Muñoz, V. y Agulló-Tomás, M.S. (2021). El uso de tecnologías de asistencia sanitaria digital por parte de la población mayor desde una perspectiva de género e intrageneracional. Teknokultura. Revista de Cultura Digital y Movimientos Sociales [En prensa]
- Observatorio Nacional de las Telecomunicaciones y de la Sociedad de la Información (2016), Los ciudadanos ante la E-Salud. https://www.ontsi.red.es/es/estudios-e-informes/Sanidad/Los-ciudadanos-ante-la-e-Sanidad-Opiniones-y-expectativas-de-los
- Zorrilla-Muñoz, V., Agulló-Tomás, M.S., Forjaz, M.J., Fernández, E., Rodriguez-Blazquez, C., Ayala, A. and Fernandez-Mayoralas, G. Technology, Gender and COVID-19. Analysis of perceived health in adults and older people. Lectures Notes in Computer Science (LNCS). [Press]. Springer: Berlin, Germany.
By
Vanessa Zorrilla-Muñoz (1), Mª Silveria Agulló-Tomás (1), M. João Forjaz (2), Eduardo Fernández(3), Carmen Rodríguez-Blázquez (2), Alba Ayala (1), Gloria Fernández-Mayoralas (4)
(1) University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain
(2) Institute of Health Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
(3) Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Alicante, Spain
(4) Spanish National Research Council, Madrid, Spain
Comments