Abstract: Older Adults' Behavior in Seeking Service Information during the Early COVID-19 Pandemic (Society for Social Work and Research 28th Annual Conference - Recentering & Democratizing Knowledge: The Next 30 Years of Social Work Science)

Schedule:

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Liberty Ballroom K, ML 4 (Marriott Marquis Washington DC)

* noted as presenting author

Leyi (Joy) Zhou, MSW, MSW, LMSW, PhD Student, University of California, Berkeley

Cheng Ren, MSSA, PhD Candidate, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

Christine Lou, PhD, Head of Research and Evaluation, San Francisco Human Service Agency, San Francisco, CA

Julian Chun-Chung Chow, PhD, Hutto-Patterson Charitable Foundation Professor, University of California, Berkeley, CA

Background and Purpose:

As technology advances, a digital divide is growing between younger and older generations. Older adults often struggle to keep up with technological advancements, which can lead to significant disadvantages in accessing information and services. COVID-19 has worsened this divide, but research on how older adults access social service information, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, is limited. This study explores the factors that impact how older adults access information during COVID-19, with a focus on whether those from disadvantaged backgrounds face greater challenges due to limited technology experience.

Methods:

Using survey data from the San Francisco Human Services Agency of 115,000 households who received public benefits in May 2020, 10,095 households responded (11% response rate). 4982 older adults (50 yrs+) were selected for the study. The dependent variables is how older adults get information during the pandemic, with 11 dummy variables of whether older adults get information from television, radio, printed newspapers, online news, San Francisco Human Services Agency website, social media, family and friends, phone text alerts, email, mail, or others. The independent variables include older adults’ education level, race/ethnicity, primary language, self-report financial status. Logistic regression was conducted to analyze the responses. This study sets significance level (alpha) at 0.05.

Results:

Findings indicated that Black older adults had significantly lower adjusted odds of receiving information via online news compared to white older adults (p < 0.01; AOR = 0.34; 95% CI, 0.27-0.43). Conversely, Chinese older adults had higher adjusted odds of receiving information via social media (p < 0.01; AOR = 1.77; 95% CI, 1.18-2.66). Additionally, older adults with a high school degree or less had lower adjusted odds of receiving information via online news (p < 0.01; AOR = 0.46; 95% CI, 0.39-0.57) and via email (High school, p < 0.01, AOR = 0.67, 95% CI, 0.53-0.85; Less than high school, p < 0.01, AOR = 0.33, 95% CI, 0.23-0.48) compared to those with a college degree or above. Older adults who primarily use Cantonese as their language had significantly lower adjusted odds of receiving information via online news compared to those who primarily use English (p < 0.01; AOR = 0.36; 95% CI, 0.23-0.57). Furthermore, older adults who used other minority languages also had lower adjusted odds of receiving information via online news compared to those who primarily use English (p < 0.01; AOR = 0.55; 95% CI, 0.54-1.10).

Conclusions and Implications:

This study highlights significant disparities in how older adults access social service information during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on education level, race/ethnicity, and primary language. Targeted efforts, such as education and training programs, are needed to bridge the digital divide among older adults, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. This information could inform targeted interventions to ensure equitable access to critical information during public health crises.