Research shows that elderly people want to be loved, taken care of, and live close to their families, however, they are the most socially excluded people in society. As their well-being, quality of life, health, and social care are overlooked there is also a shortage of research in this field. The care that is traditionally administered by caregivers is deemed problematic and inadequate by some scholars and therefore it was said that information and communication technology (ICT) was employed and implemented in elderly care to improve it. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the significance, value, and effects of ICT on the health and social care of elderly persons.
The study discusses how traditional elderly care is deemed problematic, which motivated the implementation and increased the use of ICT in the health and social care of the elderly. Furthermore, the literature looks at different ICT devices and systems together with their effects to show gaps that exist, the importance of this study as well as its relevance. A qualitative research methodological approach was followed when conducting this research in order to determine the experiences, hear the elderly’s opinions and to gain an understanding of their care as well as ICT. Thus, data were collected using semi-structured interviews and eleven elderly people were chosen using purposive and snowball sampling techniques to participate in the study. The data that was gathered in interviews, transcribed in the elderly people’s native languages and then directly translated into English and analysed using thematic analysis.
Elderly people spoke about how and why they use ICT, and how that use affects their care, which was crucial because many elderlies face difficulties due to their health and social care. Additionally, the findings showed that the elderly indeed use technology, and that this has both negative and positive impacts on their lives.