The 60-year-old female worker as user of new technology
Introduction
During the last 20 years many applications of new technology have been launched and converted to daily usage. Different services have nowadays been offered via telephone and television and, for example, bank automated tellers and credit cards are in common use. In particular, computers have considerably changed the contents and demands of many tasks. There is some evidence that the aged persons might have difficulties in coping with the technical environment and adopting the skill and knowledge needed to function effectively (Dolan and Tziner, 1988; Haigh, 1993).
To prevent an imbalance between physical workload and work capacity, the intensity of physical work should decrease with increasing age (Ilmarinen, 1992). This technical recommendation has, in general, decreased the intensity of the physical work, but new technology has risen that has resulted in new work demands.
We are living in an environment where technology is developed at an ever-increasing speed and it is an essential part of our daily living. For example, the current increase in information processing and computer-aided systems causes new demands for all. The rapidly changing technological environment may even be dangerous, in particular for aged people, if their needs and requirements are not taken into account.
Until now, knowledge has not been available concerning how much aged people are willing and able to follow technological changes. In particular, aged women can be suspected to have difficulties with new technology. The aim of this study was to obtain a preliminary picture of how aged female workers used applications of new technology in daily life.
Section snippets
Subjects
The subjects chosen were 29 sixty-year-old women living in the city of Oulu in northern Finland. Their main work status had been as employee's performing in light or moderate physical indoor work. Seventy six percent of the subjects were retired (during the previous 1–3 years), 14% were waiting for retirement and 10% were still actively working. Self-estimated health status was good in 55%, moderate in 38% and weak in 7% of the participants.
Procedure
The subjects completed a questionnaire concerning
Results
The washing machine (62%), television (17%) and dish-washer (10%) were the most important technical apparatus in the home according to the evaluation of the subjects. Every subject who had a television or microwave-oven answered that they used the devices, but 17% of the owners of record players and 12% of those who had a video recorders indicated that they did not use the appliances by themselves.
All subjects had a telephone at home, but only 31% of the respondents indicated that they used the
Discussion
When the environment, services, and products are developed it should be known how well the technology used has been planned and designed for users and how usability could be improved. Until now, there has not been enough knowledge available about how the aged manage and cope with the technical environment in our modern society. There are some hints that the aged might have difficulties with technology, for example with computer-based automation in the office (Dolan and Tziner, 1988). Many
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