Gammal är äldst : En studie om teknik i äldre människors liv

Sammanfattning: This thesis deals with the role of technology in elderly peoples everydaylife, to what extent technology can facilitate or prevent them from havinga social life. The intension is to describe the role of technology from olderpeoples own perspective. Four activities in everyday life in which technology is involved are emphasised: social contacts, security, information and distribution of services and goods. Technology related to these activities are telephones, televisions, safety alarms and homeshopping-terminals. The aim of the study is to describe how these fourtechnologies are used by the elderly and what function and meaning theygive to the technology; and to describe old peoples attitudes to newtechnology in general and to the home shopping-terminals specificallyand how this technology affects their everyday life contacts and routins.The main emphirical work consists of recurrent interviews andobservations of a group of old people living in a city (Malmo) and in a rural district (Kinda).The results show that the function of technologies such as the telephoneand the television becomes more specific and even more important to connect the home with the outside world. By this kind of technology the interviewees remain socially integrated but, which is one of their expressed preferences, with no demands on social participation. A growing need of privacy is succesfully combined with an increased need of security and help. Technology is not used to establish new contacts but relations to relatives and friends are maintained. The attitude and acceptance of new technology in general is positive due to their lifelong experiences of improvements. The difference is that they are not that interested anymore, referring to an increased pragmatic vue towards modernity, to a limited future-perspective and to their basic values.