The Role of Technology Use in the Context of Social Isolation Among Immigrant Older Adults.
Kateryna Metersky, Peiwen Lin, Sepali Guruge and 3 others
PMID 40452471WHAT IT FOUND
Immigrant older adults used technology to stay connected when local contact was hard, but language, low education, cost and digital skills limited access.
This review does not show that technology or nurse screening improves isolation.
Key findings
01In a reviewed qualitative study, 67 Muslim older adults in Canada said social media helped them keep ties with home when illness or money made local contact hard.
02In a survey of 91 older Chinese immigrants with type 2 diabetes, 78 had limited English proficiency and 58 had a high school education or less, and technology use for illness management was low despite high smart device ownership.
03In a survey with 173 valid responses from older Chinese immigrants in New Zealand, technology usefulness was linked to both social and emotional loneliness, with social loneliness scores higher.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
This is a narrative review, not a trial or systematic review, so it cannot show that technology use, screening or education improves isolation, loneliness, depression or health. The article selection was limited to English work from 2013 to 2024, and only 26 articles were included, so relevant studies in other languages or settings may be missing. Most included articles focused on older Asian immigrants in North America, so it may not apply to other immigrant groups or care settings. The reviewed studies mixed cross-sectional, longitudinal and qualitative designs, and technology use was often discussed together with social support, language help, cost and culture, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. The nursing recommendations are the authors' implications, not tested nursing interventions.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The authors disclosed that the larger ICOI partnership project is funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council partnership grant.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that giving older immigrants tablets, internet access or apps will reduce social isolation or depression. The paper is a narrative review of observational and qualitative studies, not an intervention trial, and it does not show that technology caused better outcomes.