Educational concepts of digital competence development for older adults : a scoping review

Abstract

The digital transformation of healthcare and nursing is becoming increasingly important due to demographic change and the growing shortage of skilled workers. In order to ensure the participation of senior citizens in digital assistive technologies, educational concepts and support services are needed to promote digital skills in older adults. Therefore, the specific needs and prerequisites of this target group have to be taken into consideration. This paper asks how educational programs for the support of digital competences of older adults are designed and implemented. A scoping review was conducted to systematically extract existing findings from the literature. Four databases (Cinahl, PubMed, Web of Science Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), ERIC) were searched using an exploratory strategy to identify studies that address educational concepts promoting digital competences for older adults. A total of 47 publications were included in the qualitative analysis and show a variety of strategies to deal with the promotion of digital competences for elderly people. In conclusion, programs dealing with the promotion of digital competences for elderly people should be flexibly adapted to the target group with its specific needs and challenges such as fears, lack of previous experience, or physical limitations. For successful implementation, social support is of outstanding importance.