2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

335132
Aging Population, Quality of Life and Health Apps: Implications for Public Health and Policy Development


Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Veronica Acosta-Deprez, Ph.D, Health Science Department, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
Erlyana Erlyana, MD, Ph.D, Department of Health Care Administration, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
Tony Sinay, PhD, Department of Health Care Administration, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
Background/ Purpose: Historically, seniors in America have been late to adopt technology compared to younger adults. However, their espousals to digital technologies continue to deepen. Currently, 59% of seniors go online, a 10% increase from 2012. In addition, 77% of older adults have a cell phone, up from 69% in April 2012. Technologies are now developed to help older people to age in place. This study evaluates the relationship between mobile technology use and quality of life among older adults who are 65 years and older.

Method: Secondary data analysis was conducted using data from the PEW Internet Health Tracking Survey 2012. The sample includes 889 adults 65 years old and above who responded to having any software applications or “apps” that help track or manage their health. An ordered logit model was conducted to determine the association between the “quality of life” and having “apps” to manage their health, health status, and other health variables associated with quality of life.

Results: Findings indicated that quality of life was significantly associated with having “apps”, health status, and having gone to an emergency room or been hospitalized unexpectedly. Education and income, as well as having faced a serious medical emergency or crisis and having experienced any significant change in physical health were not significant predictors of quality of life.

Implications: Research on the use of apps in enhancing quality of life is imperative in order to aid in the development of public health and health care policies affecting the aging population.

Learning Areas:

Communication and informatics
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Evaluate the relationship between mobile technology use and quality of life among older adults who are 65 years and older.

Keyword(s): Technology, Quality of Life

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been the principal or co-principal investigator on several publicly and privately funded research focusing on policies related to multicultural research and public health. Other important lines of inquiry involve educational technology and health and the use of mobile technologies in health promotion, risk reduction and decreasing health status disparities.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 5001.0: Technology and Communication among Older Adults; Medicare and Medicaid Policy