Exploring the digital divide among immigrant older adults in the United States

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundThe COVID‐19 pandemic has expedited the adoption of digital technology worldwide. Internet use has now become a part of the everyday life for the majority of the United States (US) citizens with over 90% of Americans having access to the internet. Nevertheless, the COVID‐19 pandemic shed a light on an issue of digital equity: the digital divide.MethodData for this analysis came from an ongoing, 5‐year multi‐site clinical trial involving community‐dwelling Korean immigrant older adults (65+ years) in the US. Korean older adults represents one of the fastest growing, yet some of the most vulnerable groups in the US due to their limited English proficiency. The primary goal of the trial is to test a community health worker‐led intervention program called PLAN—Preparing health aging through Dementia literacy And Navigation—designed to promote linkage to dementia care among Korean older adults with probable dementia. Potential participants go through cognitive screening using Mini‐Mental State Exam (MMSE) either in‐person or via Zoom to confirm eligibility. Using eligibility screening data, we investigated if mode of MMSE differed by key sociodemographic characteristics such as age, gender, years of education, and ethnic church attendance and cognitive status.ResultA total of 1,908 Korean older adults were included in the analysis. Nearly two‐thirds (64%) of those who completed MMSE did so in‐person. Logistic regression analysis revealed that age, years of education, and regular church attendance were significantly associated with the either mode of MMSE screening. Specifically, 1‐year increase in age and ethnic church attendance were associated with 5.5% and 1.8 times higher odds of using the in‐person mode (odds ratios = 1.055, p<0.001 and 1.801, p = 0.002, respectively), whereas 1‐year increase in education was associated with 10.9% lower odds of using the in‐person mode (odds ratio = 0.891, p<0.001). Gender and cognitive status were not found significant.ConclusionWith increasingly intertwined digital and social exclusion in our societies, the findings suggest that Korean immigrant older adults with lower education stay behind in adopting digital technologies such as Zoom. Future research should address ways in which digital literacy can be improved in the vulnerable population.