Digital literacy of older persons in Hanoi, Vietam

Abstract

This study examines the digital literacy of older persons in Hanoi, Vietnam with a concentration focusing on the present state of affairs, the digital literacy-related factors, and the correlation between digital literacy and life satisfaction. The objectives of this research were the following: (1) to obtain a thorough grasp of the state of digital literacy among older adults in Hanoi; (2) to pinpoint the major variables affecting their degrees of digital literacy; (3) to explore the relationship between digital literacy and overall life satisfaction; (4) to investigate the mediating roles of digital health literacy, digital financial literacy, social connectedness, and cognitive flexibility regarding the relationship between the digital literacy of older persons and their life satisfaction; and (5) to advance our understanding of older persons’ digital literacy in Vietnam and offer guidance for creating interventions and policies that will improve their well-being, digital skills, and quality of life. This research used a “mixed-method approach,” in which quantitative methods are supported by qualitative methods. The first step involved testing the proposed conceptual framework’s hypotheses using the quantitative technique. Questionnaires were used to collect the data. The study included 400 older persons in Hanoi, Vietnam as its sample. SPSS was used to analyze the data. Second, qualitative research intended to provide support for the analysis and explanation of the quantitative study’s conclusions. After the quantitative data collection was finished, the author conducted interviews with ten key informants. The findings of the research revealed that educational level, income, living area and socio-psychological characteristics of older persons have direct effect on their digital literacy. Digital literacy of older persons has positive impact on their digital health literacy, digital financial literacy, cognitive flexibility and negative impact on their social connectedness. The digital literacy of older persons is not affected by their gender. In addition, there are no direct relationship between digital literacy of older persons and their life satisfaction but the mediating variables such as social connectedness, cognitive flexibility have positive impact on the relationship between the digital literacy of older persons and their life satisfaction. This research contributes to the improvement of theoretical models and frameworks for digital literacy and ageing, particularly technology dissemination and adoption theories, by identifying the specific elements and barriers that impact older persons’ digital abilities in Hanoi, Vietnam. Furthermore, it will help legislators, policymakers, organizations, and other stakeholder create rules and devise customized interventions and strategies in order to enhance digital inclusion for older persons.