Internet use for active aging: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Background: The number of older adult Internet users has been rising worldwide. Information and communication technology, namely the internet, has been recognized to provide a great potential and new opportunities to society as a whole, and to active aging in particular. Objective: The aim of this paper was to conduct a systematic literature review to determine the empirical literature produced since 2005 about the internet use applied to active aging. Method: Throughout the application of a serious of inclusion and exclusion criteria, 30 papers were identified and analyzed of 646 potentially relevant ones. Results: The study provides a comprehensive review of the main subject areas that research has focused, concerning the use of internet to promote active aging. Conclusions: Although scarce, research directly suggests internet as an important promoter of social participation, health, attitude change and education for the elderly, and is differentiated according to different profiles of elder users.