Information Needs about Public and Social Services of Portuguese

Elderly

Telmo Silva, Hilma Caravau and David Campelo

Department of Comunication and Arts, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago,

3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

CIC.DIGITAL/Digimedia, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

Keywords: Information Needs, Independence, Active Ageing, Technologies, +TV4E.

Abstract: In a society increasingly attentive to the problems faced by seniors it is essential to promote their

independence and autonomy. Providing these citizens with adequate information to support daily decision

making processes and to be alert about situations of disadvantage and inequality is a concern of several

entities seeking to promote elderly empowerment. A number of gerontechnologies aimed to "add quality

years to life" have appeared to stimulate healthy, active and independent life. In line with this, it is being

developed the +TV4E interactive TV platform, which aims to promote the info-inclusion of Portuguese

seniors through the exhibition of informative contents about public and social services on TV. This paper

aims to assess the public and social services Portuguese seniors feel most in need to access information

about. Findings of this exploratory study showed that the information needs of elderly are organized in the

following macro-areas: health care and welfare services; social services; financial services; culture,

informal; education and entertainment; security services; local authority services; and transport services.

1 INTRODUCTION

Population ageing is an inescapable and undeniable

fact that in the last decades has led to a significant

inversion of the ageing pyramid in the developed

societies. Almost all countries are facing an

increasing longevity of adults, which reflects the

growth in the number and proportion of older people

(Rosenberg et al., 2013). This element represents

one of the great challenges for practically all sectors

of society, such as, labour and financial markets,

goods and services, such as housing, transportation

and social protection (United Nations, 2015).

Projections indicate an abrupt increase in the number

of people aged 60 or over in the medium term future.

Between 2015 and 2030 it is projected that the total

population with 60 years and over will increase from

901 million to 1.4 billion, reaching nearly 2.1 billion

in 2050 (United Nations, 2015).

In the particular case of Portugal, 2,032,606

citizens were 65 years or over in 2012. Optimistic

projections considering current trends of fertility,

mortality and migration show that in 2060 this

number will increase to 3,343,987 (Instituto

Nacional de Estatística, 2014).

On the one hand, the increase in life expectancy

should be considered a great achievement for

developed societies, but on the other hand it raises a

number of challenges to citizens, governments and

communities. Changes in health public policies,

retirement and pension policies, social security and

education are some of the consequences of

demographic ageing (Teixeira et al., 2013; He et al.,

2016).

Though living longer may be something to be

celebrated, it can be distressing and problematic also

both for the individuals themselves and for those

around them if no proper conditions for being

independent, active, and healthy are available. It is

important to develop policies and strategies that

allow older people to maintain or improve their

quality of life, so that ageing is seen from the

perspective of "add life to years" and not "add years

to life".

Considering the ageing process, the concept of

“quality of life” is highly determined by the

individual's ability to maintain their autonomy and

independence (Kalache & Gatti, 2002). Maintaining

these abilities is a role for the individuals, but it is

also affected by resources available to support them.

Silva, T., Caravau, H. and Campelo, D.

Information Needs about Public and Social Services of Portuguese Elderly .

DOI: 10.5220/0006284900460057

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health (ICT4AWE 2017), pages 46-57

ISBN: 978-989-758-251-6

Hence, ensuring that the elderly have a continuous

access to adequate information to age in a healthy

and autonomous way is one of the great challenges

of public health (Rosenberg et al,. 2013).

Considering that the world is becoming more

technological, the ageing population reality has led

to the appearance of gerontechnologies as one of the

greatest bets of different stakeholders, such as

innovative entrepreneurs and enterprises, which are

drawing their attention to senior’s concerns and

needs. These technologies aim to support older

people to maintain their autonomy, increase the

feeling of belonging to a community, enlarge the

social networks, and improve the wellbeing and

literacy (Rice & Carmichael, 2013; Silva et al.,

2016). Over time, there have been emerged several

innovations in medicines, assistive devices, robotics,

sensor systems, e- and m-Health, as well as

strategies for health systems and social support

(Rosenberg et al., 2013).

The access and the ability to obtain information

enable individuals with the knowledge needed to

identify and be alert to disadvantage and inequality

situations. This information influences not only the

quality of life of individuals but also of those who

are close and dependant on them.

Some news and reports mention that the

Portuguese elderly have low literacy levels in areas

such as health and finances (Espanha et al., 2016;

Banco de Portugal, 2016). Low literacy levels

associated with the difficulty of access information

in a credible, fast and comprehensible way put the

elderly in a disadvantaged situation. The Portuguese

Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security,

Vieira da Silva, once affirmed that thousands of

Portuguese elderly in monetary poverty line

situation might not be able to access the Solidarity

Supplement for the Elderly. However, many of these

citizens do not access to this monthly financial

support from the state due to lack of knowledge

about public services they could benefit from (RTP

Notícias, 2016).

Despite not being a gerontechnology per si, the

television is one of the greatest media platforms with

high importance in seniors’ life. In a world full of

information sources and media, such as radio, books,

magazines, pamphlets, social networks, etc.,

television is still in a prominent position as the

preferred information source for the elderly

(Fontana, 2004; Edwards, 2006; Zou & Zhou, 2014;

Edewor et al., 2016). Statistics show that in Portugal

people with 65 years and over watch TV 5 hours and

8 minutes a day, in average (Marktest Group, 2011).

Therefore, television is an audiovisual media with

great potential for providing information and

entertainment to seniors.

Thus, it is essential that services and products are

designed and developed according to concerns and

expectations of potential target users , improving

their efficiency and efficacy. The co-creation

innovation, is one of the most powerful design

principles of new innovations as well as the user's

experience (Rosenberg et al., 2013). In this context,

the +TV4E project comes up with an Interactive TV

(iTV) platform to promote seniors info-inclusion

(Silva et al., 2016). This platform aims to deliver

information about public and social services tailored

for seniors during the traditional TV experience in

pre-programmed transmission breaks.

So, in order to create these high-value

informative contents, the research team of

considered essential to explore the perspective of

specialists and seniors regarding the information

available on +TV4E platform.

Therefore, the present study aims to explore and

analyse the opinion of specialists in public health

promotion of seniors regarding public policies

development in Portugal. In addition, this study

elicits constructive contributions from seniors

regarding their information needs. Information

gathered is essential to build a list of public and

social services whose information will be

broadcasted to Portuguese elderly in a clear and

efficient way through +TV4E platform.

2 INDEPENDENT LIVING AND

TECHONOLOGIES

Over time, a set of transformations occurred in

human beings at biological, psychological and social

level characterized by several physical,

psychological and social changes (Schneider and

Irigaray, 2008; Schroots and Birren, 1980).

Although being old is not necessarily synonymous

of illness, disability, dependency, isolation and

loneliness, these changes lead to the emergence of

new challenges.

2.1 Active Ageing

As a result of the individual and demographic

ageing, the World Health Organization (WHO)

adopted the term “active ageing” in 2002. WHO

advocates that a longer life must be accompanied by

continuous opportunities in three areas: health,

participation and security. Hence, in order to

Information Needs about Public and Social Services of Portuguese Elderly

enhance older people quality of life the “active

ageing” concept consists in the process of

optimizing opportunities in these areas (Kalache and

Gatti, 2002).

The active ageing allows individuals, throughout

their life course, to realize their potential for

physical, social, and mental wellbeing and to

participate in society, while providing them the

adequate protection, security and care, when needed

(Kalache and Gatti, 2002). The quality of life of

elderly will depend on the risks and opportunities

they experience over life course, as well as the

support provided by other generations when

necessary (Kalache and Gatti, 2002).

The concept of “quality of life” is highly broad,

complex, subjective, and incorporate 6 essential

domains, namely the physical and psychological

area, level of independence, environment, personal

beliefs/spirituality and social relationships (World

Health Organization, 1998). At advanced stages of

life, quality of life is highly determined by the

ability to maintain autonomy (ability to make

personal decisions of daily life according to own

rules and preferences) and independence (ability to

perform functions related to daily living with no

and/or little help from others) (Kalache and Gatti,

2002).

2.2 Gerontechnologies

In an increasingly technological and computerized

world, new technologies accountable for supporting

the elderly are commonly called gerontechnologies.

This type of technologies has great potential to

support ageing and to ensure good health, social

participation (such as to stay linked with the

community) and independent living (Harrington and

Harrington, 2000).

Harrington and Harrington (2000) defined five

favourable points for technologies to meet the

challenges of an ageing society, namely: (1)

technology can play an important role to prevent age

related diseases; (2) gerontechnologies can enhance

the performance and opportunities of older people in

new roles; (3) gerontechnologies can compensate

the declining capacities; (4) technologies provide

technical support to assist caregivers, and (5)

technologies support older people indirectly by

improving research on ageing.

Regarding the process of developing

technologies for seniors, Masahito Kawamori in the

Global Forum on Innovations for Ageing

Populations, considered six key factors for eHealth

design for older adults, which should also be seen as

guidelines for technologies in other areas: ease of

use and simplicity; security; credible information

with assured quality; low stress adoption and initial

use: little training for use and maintenance; and

seamless integration into daily life (Rosenberg et al.,

2013).

Though technologies cannot replace human

interaction, they evolve faster than ever before

(Coulombe and Zhang, 2015) and tend to be

increasingly "humanized" and less invasive. The

potential of technologies to fulfil needs of elderly is

already taken into account by government and

private institutions in debates and discussions among

different stakeholders (e.g. academics, politics,

decision makers, private enterprises, investors,

developers, etc.) (Rosenberg et al., 2013; Coulombe

and Zhang, 2015).

It is essential that those who want to develop

technologies for the elderly change their perception

of ageing and consider seniors as part of the solution

and not be deemed “the problem” (Rice and

Carmichael, 2013; Coulombe and Zhang, 2015).

Stereotyping the elderly as people who become

suddenly passive and dependent, taking us to

develop things to older people rather than create

things with older people (Coulombe and Zhang,

2015). The potential of the elderly as a valuable

resource of wisdom for innovation is being lost

because older people are treated as just recipients of

products (Coulombe and Zhang, 2015).

Co-creation is one of the most important secrets

for designing new and innovative solutions to

seniors (Rosenberg et al., 2013). It is essential, since

early stages of technology development, to assess

needs, expectations, and opinions of this population

segment (Doménech et al., 2013). Ensuring a better

alignment with preferences and needs of the elderly

may lead to more acceptable and adequate solutions,

fostering positive and important changes in

costumers’ lives (Queirós et al., 2014; Rosenberg et

al., 2013).

2.3 Senior’s Information Needs

One of the areas in which Portuguese elderly, and

even younger people, have difficulty to access and

understand information is about public services. This

is not only due to the fact that information in public

services are often scattered and sometimes difficult

to understand, but it is also due to low literacy levels

of aged groups (Instituto Nacional de Estatística,

2012) that makes retrieving and understanding

information a complex process. Portuguese elderly

are commonly in a disadvantaged position for not

ICT4AWE 2017 - 3rd International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health

knowing how to access public services or which sort

of assistances they can benefit from (e.g. medication

discounts, financial contributions from the state,

etc.). This leads to a high informational dependency

on their formal and informal caregivers (Silva et al.,

2016).

Portuguese government is aware of the

importance of new technologies, and thus has been

developing several platforms and services in a

technological base, such as in the field of health,

finances and social services. Portugal is one of the

European countries with highest indicators of online

public services provision to citizens and enterprises

(Portal do Cidadão, 2015). In addition, this country

has also an important bet in the health area with the

strategy of e-health (Serviços Partilhados do

Ministério da Saúde, 2015).

The European e-Government Benchmark (2015)

refers that Portugal has high levels of digitalisation

(usability, ease of use, speed, etc.) but this country

still has a long journey regarding the penetration of

these services (dissemination, accessibility, among

others) (Portal do Cidadão, 2015; Barroso and

Vasconcelos, 2016). The use to public services is a

right of all citizens, and age cannot be an exclusion

factor for accessing them.

Even when information regarding services,

activies and programs from which seniors could

benefit is available, the low capacity to properly

understand such information by these citizens can

put their quality of life at risk, which means that,

providing adequate and personalized information

needed by older people is critical to ageing well and

to be socially included (Everingham et al., 2009).

Therefore, delivering public services information is

vital for a successful planning and implementing of

public policies.

In addition, being aware of what is going around

and how to proceed to live by the government and

society rules is essential to promote the active

ageing, particularly with independency and

autonomy, as encouraged by WHO (Kalache and

Gatti, 2002).

Over time, the public service term has always

generated discomfort and misunderstandings

regarding the multiple connotation of the “public”

word. In order to clarify this concept, the European

Commission created the term Services of General

Interest (SGI), which is subdivided into several

categories and concepts. SGI comprehend services,

activities and programs tailored to fulfil citizen's

wellbeing, considered to be of general interest by

public authorities, and thus subjected to a set of

predetermined public-service regulations (European

Commission, 2011; European Commission, 2003).

SGI comprehend a wide range of activities,

functions and resources, from large

telecommunications, postal services and water

supply to healthcare, education and financial

services. However, though this definition still suffers

from lack of clarity in its terminology, generating

discussion and debates (European Commission,

2011), it usually includes services referred to areas

of state sovereignty (defense, security and justice),

health care, social security, education, housing, and

also the radio and television broadcasting service.

Basic and essential services, such as energy,

transport and telecommunications, are also of

general interest, either when provided by public

authorities or private enterprises. Local laws define

as essential public services the supply of water,

electricity, natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas;

electronic communications; postal services, waste

management and the collection and treatment of

wastewater (Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos,

2016).

The development of an interactive television

(iTV) platform (+TV4E), conducted at the

University of Aveiro, Portugal, that allows the

enrichment of the television experience, by

interleaving the normal broadcast with informative

spots related to public and social services edited

accordingly to the user’s profile, is in the early stage

of the development.

Considering the individual, social and

technological context mentioned above, the research

team of +TV4E wants to develop an iTV platform

focused on the elderly and developed with them. In

this way, services that older people most need to

access information about will be assessed based on

specialists in public policies and potential target-

users inputs. The methodology used will be

explained in the following section.

3 METHODOLOGY

This paper is based on an exploratory study and aims

to assess Services of General Interest (SGI) tailored

for seniors whose information should be delivered

by the +TV4E platform. To achieve this and in order

to establish the scientific validity of this study

opinions and information were gathered from

potential target users as well as from research

specialists of different sectors and with diversified

backgrounds.

The information assessment regarding SGI

needed by Portuguese elderly started with a

Information Needs about Public and Social Services of Portuguese Elderly

exploratory scientific literature review in

international databases with the keywords "elderly"

and "information needs" that aimed to support the

discussions with the research specialists in a focus

groups carried out afterwards. This works intented to

design a primary version of the survey submitted to

seniors, potential users of +TV4E platform.

Data collection occurred in four key moments

(see Figure 1), with different stakeholders and

diverse techniques: (i) exploratory literature into the

information needs of older adults; (ii) exploratory

interview with one expert in the field of gerontology

working in the community; (iii) one focus group and

survey with 4 experts in the field of public policies

and services, and (iv) one focus group and survey

with 11 seniors.

Figure 1: Timeline of data collection.

Two research team members, via Skype,

undertook the interview with the specialist in

gerontology and all the other data collection work

were guided and supported by four members of

+TV4E project team. After each collecting task, data

was further analysed by the whole team in order to

integrate and/or exclude categories of public and

social services referred in the taskforce of interaction

with the participants. This process aimed to mature

and consolidate the following moments of

interaction.

The selection of methodologies for data

collection, referred previously, took into account

their benefits for each moment. According Morgan

(1997), Focus Group is defined as a method for

collecting data through interactions and group

discussions, where topics suggested by one

moderator, usually the researcher, are discussed.

This technique can be treated as a mix of participant

observation and in-depth interview to characterize

participants' perceptions and attitudes. It is a very

useful tool for accessing a broad range of views and

information, about how people or a group of people

think about a specific topic (Mack et al., 2005;

Morgan, 1997). Therefore, it is a widely used

qualitative methodology, whose objective is to

identify the opinions, attitudes and preferences of

possible users of a product/service. In this technique

it is applied the moderate discussion on a specific

topic and the session is moderated by an element

with experience and leadership ability. The focus

group should be conducted with a limited group in

terms of number and is advisable to have between 6

and 10 participants. In this type of technique,

spontaneous opinions and comments can be obtained

(Coutinho, 2015), and it is also considered an

adequate method for gathering insights regarding the

information needs of a specific group of citizens

(Barrett and Kirk, 2000).

Interview is a method for collecting data through

verbal questions to individuals pre-defined by the

researcher (Coutinho, 2015). It is guided by issues

designed to collect data on the research topic and

organized according to an Interview Guide. Based

on direct interactions between the researcher and

interviewee, this method makes possible to obtain

information that would never be obtained through

traditional questionnaires. It is essential that the

interviews take place in an open and flexible

environment in order to foster reflections, ideas and

presuppositions about the research theme (Quivy

and Campenhoudt, 1998).

The data collection methodology through

surveys involves making questions to individuals,

which aims to collect information regarding

attitudes, feelings, values, opinions or factual

information. When questions are presented through

an inquire in which the respondents answer by

themselves, it is called a questionnaire or self-

administered (Coutinho, 2015).

Overall, questionnaires are used when it is

wanted to inquire a large number of people in order

to characterize traits that identify large groups of

subjects (Quivy and Campenhoudt, 1998). In the

following section it will be presented the results that

fundament the list of public and social services from

which seniors are interested in obtaining

information.

4 RESULTS

In this section, it will be presented the results of

literature analysis regarding the elderly information

needs, which will be the starting point for the

construction of the first version of the survey on

Exploratory

literatureto

designthe

survey

Interview

withone

specialistin

gerontology

FocusGroup

&Survey

with

specialistsin

public

policies

(n=4)

FocusGroup

&Survey

withSeniors

(n=11)

ICT4AWE 2017 - 3rd International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health

public and social services. Right after, it will be

presented the main results of the interview with the

specialist in gerontology who works in the

community followed by the findings obtained in two

focus groups with the specialists in public policies

and services and with seniors recruited in the context

of the +TV4E project. Concerning this last point, it

should be noted that after each focus group, an

updated version of the survey was elaborated, taking

into account the inputs from the participants.

4.1 Exploratory Literature to Design

the Survey

Obtaining proper information and being constantly

updated about professional, personal and social life

is essential to have good levels of quality of life

(Edewor et al., 2016; Bruce, 2005). Information is

crucial to face daily living challenges, to make

informed decisions and to be alert to situations of

disadvantage and inequality. Have a good

understanding in key areas to citizenship is essential

to promote and improve the quality of life.

Although societies are increasingly conscious and

awakened to the elderly’s needs, few recent studies

have examined the information needs of the seniors

(Edewor et al., 2016). Being aware of the elderly

information needs is essential to plan and implement

public policies and services properly.

In 1985, a survey developed by Troup (1985)

revealed that Scotland’s elderly identifies

money/housing, leisure opportunities and health

matters as the main areas of information needs as

well as aspects of finance, housing and benefits.

Two decades later, Barret (2005) analysed the

support and information needs of seniors and

disabled older people in the United Kingdom, with a

total sample of 1630 respondents. Results showed it

was hard for the elderly to have practical support on

their daily problems as well as to receive

information that enables them to access such

support. In addition, several respondents mentioned

their needs of information on financial and practical

help, housing, products and home adaptations,

support and services at home that are available to

them (Barrett, 2005).

According studies conducted by Zou and Zhou

(2014) in Chinese Rural Community, information

needs of old citizens are distributed in 5 categories

and 13 subcategories: physiological (food, clothing,

care and shelter); safe (healthcare and pension

policy), affective (friends and family activities and

club activities); respected (self-assessment and

social evaluation) and self-realized (jobs and

knowledge skills). This study was supported by 600

respondents, which referred that information quality,

reliability, relevance, and accessibility highly

influence the choice of information sources (Zou &

Zhou, 2014).

Edewor and colleagues (2016) found that

information needs of Nigerian elderly consist of

health conditions, pension/finance, government

policies, current affairs, transport, among others.

They also often choose family members as the

preferred source of information.

In another approach, Everingham and colleagues

(2009) inquired the elderly about their needs for

recent information, as they often search for

information at a time of crisis or life change.

Findings show that elderly search information about

availability of programs for delivering hot meals

regularly, home health care, special transport, and

other assistance services. Also, they want to know

all the benefits, concessions, rebates and subsidies

they are entitled to.

Although none of the studies mentioned above

have focused on the information needs of the

Portuguese elderly, there are transversal trends,

especially in the areas of healthcare, financial help,

pensions and local policies. Therefore, the research

team developed the first version of the survey that

was divided into 3 macro areas of interest and

respective services (Table 1), namely: health

services, social services and financial services.

Table 1: Macro-areas of interest and corresponding

services.

Macro-area of

interest

Services

Health Services

Primary care

Hospital care

Continuous and Integrated care

Transport

Social Services Social support and programmes

Financial Services

Taxes

Health fees

Subsidies in medicine

Social tariffs

Financial assistance

Each macro-area consisted of a number of

services, activities and programs. Health services

comprise primary care, hospital care, continuous and

integrated care, and transport (for health or treatment

services). Social services include the social support

and specific programmes for older people (home

care services, senior social club, adult day care

center, adult night care center, foster family, nursing

homes and social, and leisure activities services).

Information Needs about Public and Social Services of Portuguese Elderly

Taxes, health fees, subsidies in medicine, social

tariffs and financial assistance (reforms/retirement

pension, subsidies, benefits, supplements) were the

integrated services in the financial macro-area.

It should be noted that some of the services are

transversal to more than one macro-area. Health fees

and subsidies in medicine are services that concern

to the macro-areas of “Health Care and Welfare

Services”, “Social Services” and “Financial

Services”. Social tariffs and financial assistance are

specific services transversal to the macro-areas of

“Social Services” and “Financial Services”.

4.2 Interview with Specialist in

Gerontology

Formal caregivers play an important role in elderly

lives, both institutionalized and the ones who are

integrated in the community context. These

caregivers deal continually and directly with seniors,

representing a privileged source of knowledge about

their information needs. Considering that elderly do

not have the means or knowledge to resolve their

issues without external assistance, these

professionals are the ones who often support the

resolution of many daily problems of older people.

In this sense, an interview was carried out with a

professional working in the community, with

academic background in gerontology.

The gerontologist, S.R., is specialist in seniors’

welfare promotion and active ageing, and also in

public health promotion in Lisbon downtown. S.R.

has 6 years of experience as formal caregiver of

seniors and technical coordinator of a non-profit

organization. Some of the tasks performed by this

professional range from ensuring companionship,

administering healthcare treatments, and supporting

aged people with daily activities, such as buying

groceries, funding support to home cleaning and

repairing, etc.

The gerontologist was invited to answer to an

interview with open-ended questions, in October

2016. The aim of this interview was to determine the

main information needs areas in public services, and

also the sources of information used by the expert

and their team to respond to seniors’ requests.

There are three main conclusions that result from

this step of the exploratory study, namely:

 the average digital literacy of people

attended by this expert is rather low;

 most of the 118 users attended by the

institution where the specialist works watch

television and is through this medium they

receive the majority of the information;

 there are a number of governmental and web

portals which provide reliable information

about public and social services, that are used

by this specialist and their team to respond to

users' requests (eg. Social Security Portal

available in www.seg-social.pt).

It should be noted that some of the characteristics

of the population attended by the institution where

S.R. works in the downtown Lisbon, are: very old

people (the age average of the population assisted is

83 years), low profits, low digital literacy, widowers,

without own car, residents in apartments without lift

(typically in the 4

or 5

floor), and socially very

isolated.

This interview confirms what many studies and

reports advocate about television preference of

elderly as a medium for obtaining information. In

this population, accessing information via internet

was not usual.

“Only 2 of our 118 users have internet access”.

It has also been found that a lot of elderly do not

understand the information about public services.

“An interesting fact is that all users watch

television, through which they receive most of the

information. However, although they receive a lot of

information through television, sometimes they do

not understand the information properly. In other

words, the information reaches the elderly and then

they cannot deconstruct and understand it (e.g. they

struggle to understand the meaning of "freeze the

reform/retirement pension"

). This sometimes leads

to unnecessary alarmed and worry situations.”

According to S.R.’s opinion, the most relevant

information about public and social services

requested by the users are:

 knowing which social and financial support

they are entitled to;

 knowing where they can get information

about the supports and how to obtain them;

 knowing the health professionals near from

their residence;

 get information about financial issues;

 get information regarding the rights of people

in the health area;

 questions related to juridical support;

 social security support;

______________________________________

"Freezing the pension/retirement pension" is a commonly

used concept referred to the temporary restriction of new

requests for early retirement (retirement before legal age).

Often, this term is also used in jargon to refer to the temporary

or definitive restriction of updating the values of the reforms.

ICT4AWE 2017 - 3rd International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health

 which are the social responses near from their

residence and general news.

With these inputs, it was after discussed some of

the main sources of information used to

appropriately support requests from the elderly.

The list of information sources was further

analysed by the research team and presented to the

participants in the focus group with specialists.

4.3 Focus Group & Survey with

Specialists in Public Policies

The interview with a gerontologist allowed

understanding the areas in which older people

struggle to access information about. After the

interview, it was conducted the focus groups phase.

It was carried out two moments of collecting data

with two different sets of participants from different

areas. The first focus group was developed with

researchers with academic and political background

in the area of public and social policies, while the

second focus group was conducted with seniors

recruited in the context of the +TV4E project.

The focus group with research specialists in public

policies aimed to analyse the macro-areas of

interests proposed by the +TV4E team and validate

the areas of the sources of information regarding the

social and public services.

Even though it is a challenging and difficult task,

it is highly valuable to promote the discussion and

debates among professionals with know-how in

different fields of knowledge. Concerning the

peculiar inter-disciplinarity of the +TV4E project

and the concepts covered by it, this focus group was

developed with 4 professionals from different areas:

 a senior academic research with interests focus

on the relationship between new information

and communication technologies and

people/organisations;

 a researcher with background in gerontology,

with research work in technology assessment

for the elderly, including Ambient Assisted

Living products and services, and also in the

field of assistive technologies use and

evaluation of human functioning and

environmental factors using the International

Classification of Functioning, Disability and

Health;

 a senior researcher and specialist in spatial

planning policies, territorial governance, health

geography and policies, and economic, social

and territorial impacts of Information and

communications technology;

 a gerontologist working in a Portuguese town

hall, in the social action office, with

responsibilities focused on the detection,

interventional planning, action and/or referral

of problematic social situations of the elderly

population.

The specialists were invited to participate in the

focus group, in October 2016, moderated by the

responsible research coordinator of the +TV4E

project, who has several years of experience in

group approaches and leadership skills.

After the legitimation and presentation of the

project, a survey based on the literature review and

the interview was handed to the participants and it

was requested each participant to analyse the

relevance of the macro-areas of interest presented as

well as their respective services. It was confirmed by

these professionals, based on their own experience,

that seniors often have problems to access and

understand information about social and public

services.

All the participants considered the presented

macro-areas and corresponding services of high

importance for the Portuguese seniors. Throughout

the focus group, which lasted approximately 120

minutes, ideas and experiences were discussed and

shared. These discussions led to the inclusion of

other macro-areas of interest, namely:

 culture, informal education and leisure;

 transport services (in general);

 security services;

 city services;

 mandatory local services;

 news.

In addition to these suggestions, it was also

proposed to rename "Health Services" to "Health

Care and Welfare Services", considering the wide

range of information concentrated in this macro-

area.

After analysing the inputs of this focus group the

research team reformulated the previous version of

macro-areas of interest for senior citizens (Table 2).

Table 2: Macro-areas of interest and corresponding

services after the FG with specialists.

Macro-area of

interest

Services

Health Care and

Welfare Services

Primary care

Hospital care

Continuous and Integrated care

Transport

Welfare

Pharmacies

Social Services Social support and programmes

Information Needs about Public and Social Services of Portuguese Elderly

Table 3: Macro-areas of interest and corresponding

services after the FG with specialists (Cont.).

Macro-area of

interest

Services

Financial Services

National and local taxes

Health fees

Subsidies in medicine

Social tariffs

Financial assistance

Culture, Informal

Education and

Entertainment

Senior Tourism

Entertainment

Informal Education

Security Services

National Republican Guard

Public Security Police

Local Authority

Services

Town hall citizen support office

Specific benefits of local

authorities

Civic services

Transport

Services

Taxi number by district

Number of public transport

Airlines contact

Culture, Informal Education and Entertainment

comprise senior tourism, informal education (e.g.

Senior Universities, etc.) and entertainment

(information about tours, parks available in the

surrounding area, etc.). The Security services

encompass services and programs developed by the

Portuguese security forces with a focus on the senior

population (e.g. Program "I'm here" for adults). The

Local Authority Services macro-area includes

information usually accessed through the town hall

citizen support office about specific benefits of local

authorities and civic services. The Transport

Services comprises the taxi number contact by

district, contact number of public transport (e.g. bus

and train information) and airlines contact.

The survey regarding seniors’ information needs

was updated considering the structure presented in

Table 2.

4.4. Focus Group & Survey with

Seniors

As mentioned earlier in this paper, it is essential to

develop products and services that effectively fulfil

user needs and expectations. When these users are

seniors, it is even more important that, from the

beginning of the process, they are recruited and

involved in the development process.

After assessing the information needs of the

elderly from the research specialists’ perspectives, a

focus group was carried out along with potential

target users of the +TV4E platform. These target

users will play a key role in the collaborative design

process of the platform +TV4E.

Thus, this focus group aimed to assess the

feedback of senior population regarding the services

in which they feel more necessity to access in a clear

and concise way.

To this moment, 11 older people from a Senior

University took part in the focus group. As in the

focus group with the specialists, this one was led and

moderated by the principal researcher of the project,

supported by 3 team members and lasted around 120

minutes.

After the presentation of the +TV4E project,

some of its characteristics, as well as the valuable

outcomes of collaboration with seniors, a

questionnaire was delivered with purposes of

validating the 7 macro-areas of interest and their

respective services. Respondents were asked to score

a list of 23 services identified in the previous steps

as key services important for them to receive

information about. This list was based in a Likert

type scale to classify from 1 (unimportant) to 3 (very

important).

From the 11 participants in the focus group, the

female gender represented 63.6% of the sample

(n=7), and male 36.4%(n=4). The ages ranged from

59 to 77, with an average of 67 years old. The

descriptive analysis (mean and SD=standard

deviation) of data collected through the survey with

the elderly is presented below (Table 4).

Table 4: Descriptive analysis regarding the Macro-area of

interest and corresponding services.

Macro-area of interest and

corresponding services

mean SD

Health Care and Welfare Services

Primary care

Hospital care

Continuous and Integrated care

Transport

Welfare

Pharmacies

2,9

2,4

2,9

2,4

2,3

0,32

0,52

0,33

0,52

0,48

Social Services

Social support and programmes

2,9

0,38

Financial Services

National and local taxes

Health fees

Subsidies in medicine

Social tariff

Financial assistance

2,8

2,2

2,4

2,0

2,2

0,42

0,63

0,52

0,50

0,63

Culture, Informal Education and

Entertainment

Senior Tourism

Entertainment

Informal Education

2,8

2,6

2,4

0,46

0,52

ICT4AWE 2017 - 3rd International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health

Table 4: Descriptive analysis regarding the Macro-area of

interest and corresponding services (Cont.).

Macro-area of interest and

corresponding services

mean SD

Security Services

National Republican Guard

Public Security Police

2,7

0,50

Local Authority Services

Town hall citizen support office

Specific benefits of local

authorities

Civic services

2,4

2,3

0,53

0,50

Transport Services

Taxi number by district

Number of public transport

Airlines contact

2,1

2,0

1,7

0,33

0,50

0,71

With the exception of “airlines contact”

(mean=1,7), all services had averages higher than 2

points. Receiving information about primary care,

continuous and integrated care, and social support

and programmes were considered as the most

important by the respondents (mean=2,9), followed

by national and local taxes, and senior tourism

(mean=2,8).

The services in which seniors pointed as less

needed to receive information about were: number

of public transport (mean=2,0), social tariffs, and

number of public transport (mean=2,0), followed by

taxi number by district (mean=2,1), health fees and

financial assistance (mean=2,2).

The values obtained in the survey show the

relevance of information regarding public and social

services to senior citizens. The +TV4E research

team will consider these findings in the upcoming

phases of this project. Moreover, these results should

possibly be considered also by national policy

makers as clear indicators of information needs of

the older age population segment.

5 DISCUSSION

Findings reveal homogeneity and agreement, both

across literature and the participants of this

exploratory study.

It is important to observe that the 3 main areas of

seniors’ information interest (health care and welfare

services; social services; financial services),

assessed by the research team during the process of

literature review (Troup, 1985; Barrett, 2005;

Edewor et al., 2016; Everingham et al., 2009) were

always considered as highly relevant by all research

specialists and seniors who took part in the focus

groups. It should be highlighted this situation,

regarding the high scores given by the elderly to

these 3 areas in the survey, with all the

corresponding services with averages above 2,0.

Moreover, it is worth noting that the macro-areas

suggested by the research specialists, included in the

survey (culture, education and leisure; transport

services; security services; city services; mandatory

local services), were considered as areas of great

interest and importance need for the seniors also.

The macro-transport area had the lowest scores.

However, despite these scores, according to Edewor

and colleagues (2016) and to focus group with

research specialists, transportation is a very

important area for seniors. During the focus group

with the seniors it was strongly pointed that

information about bus schedules would be extremely

desirable.

Throughout the process of literature reviewing,

interview, focus groups and surveys it is noted that

there is a great lack of access to clear and coherent

information by the Portuguese elderly. Thus, the

+TV4E project has great potential to promote higher

levels of quality of life and independence to their

users.

6 CONCLUSIONS

The challenges and opportunities that come with

ageing, both at personal and community level, are

drawing the attention of several sectors of society.

Promote independent and autonomous living is

an obligation of governments, enterprises, academia

and society, which is reflected in efforts to develop

active ageing policies, products and services that

promote quality of life in older age.

One of the answers to fulfil seniors’ needs are

the technological innovations that have appeared in

the last decades. In addition, when a technology for

seniors is under development, it is important to

consider needs and expectations of potential target

users all over the development process. This process

is called “co-creation” and is a key point to develop

solutions that generate real and valuable effects on

the individuals’ lives. It is also important to listen to

research specialists experience and know-how in

order to make the process of assessing seniors’

information needs much more effective.

Considering the context and the objectives of the

+TV4E project, the present paper focuses on the

obstacles faced by older people to access reliable

and understandable information about social and

public services.

Information Needs about Public and Social Services of Portuguese Elderly

Professionals and academics in gerontology,

technology and political science argue that there are

several areas of concern about which it is necessary

to bring clear information to the elderly. These seven

areas are: (1) health care and welfare services; (2)

social services; (3) financial services; (4) culture,

informal; education and entertainment; (5) security

services; (6) local authority services and (7)

transport services.

While the literature review focused on foreign

articles, it seems that the information needs of the

elderly are quite similar among peers from other

countries around the world.

One of the promising fields to conduct further

research is relative to the macro-area of transport. It

is understandable that one of the ways to promote

the active aging of individuals is to promote their

inclusion and participation in the activities of

society. However, showing schedules, routes and

other issues related to public transports is technically

complicated for the development of +TV4E

platform. It should be noted that for a first prototype,

it is intended that this platform should be intuitive,

with a high degree of usability, and with a low

degree of intrusiveness. So, it is suggested as future

research the study of the importance of the transport

service available in platforms as the +TV4E, and in

what way this information can be broadcasted to the

user.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The research leading to these work has received

funding from Project 3599 – Promover a Produção

Científica e Desenvolvimento Tecnológico e a

Constituição de Redes Temáticas (3599-PPCDT)

and European Commission Funding FEDER

(through FCT: Fundação para a Ciência e

Tecnologia I.P. under grant agreement no.

PTDC/IVC-COM/3206/2014).

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