Citation: Chalghoumi, H.; Al-Thani,
D.; Hassan, A.; Hammad, S.; Othman,
A. Research on Older Persons’ Access
and Use of Technology in the Arab
Region: Critical Overview and Future
Directions. Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 7258.
https://doi.org/10.3390/app12147258
Academic Editors: Enrico Vezzetti,
Andrea Luigi Guerra, Gabriele
Baronio, Domenico Speranza
and Luca Ulrich
Received: 9 May 2022
Accepted: 13 July 2022
Published: 19 July 2022
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional affil-
iations.
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
Review
Research on Older Persons’ Access and Use of Technology in
the Arab Region: Critical Overview and Future Directions
Hajer Chalghoumi
1
, Dena Al-Thani
2,
* , Asma Hassan
2
, Suzanne Hammad
3
and Achraf Othman
4
1
AGE-WELL NCE/Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion Consulting Inc.,
Toronto, ON M5G 2A2, Canada; hajer.chalghoumi@gmail.com
2
Information and Computing Technology Division, College of Science and Engineering,
Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha P.O. Box 34110, Qatar; ashassan2@hbku.edu.qa
3
Northwestern University in Qatar, Doha P.O. Box 34102, Qatar; suzanne_hammad@yahoo.com
4
Mada Center, Doha P.O. Box 24230, Qatar; aothman@mada.org.qa
* Correspondence: dalthani@hbku.edu.qa; Tel.: +974-445-47238
Abstract:
This paper presents the findings of a scoping review that maps exploratory evidence and
gaps in research on information and communication technology (ICT) access and use among older
persons in the Arab region. This review is part of a larger project that studies ICT access and use
and related challenges faced by older adults in Qatar. A search was conducted in eleven scientific
databases and search engines covering empirical studies published in English and Arabic between
January 2016 and June 2021. Eleven studies were retrieved in the final corpus. A thematic analysis
alongside the PRISMA for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) was used to retrieve the findings. Our
analysis identifies smartphones and social media applications for communication and information
sharing as the most accessed and used technologies by older persons in the region. Moreover, our
review highlighted the importance of the sociocultural factors in shaping ICT access and use by
older persons in the region. The functional limitations of older persons in interaction with certain
technology factors such as usability, functionality, and accessibility were also highlighted as major
challenges inhibiting ICT access and use by this population segment. This scoping review provides a
comprehensive overview of ICT access and use, and the factors affecting them among older persons
in the Arab region. It highlights the scarcity of research on the subject in the region. It also stresses
the fact that there is a need for more research on older persons and their caregivers in the context
of the Arab world. More culturally appropriate need-based and adapted technologies are also
recommended. Our review is a comprehensive source for researchers and technology developers
interested in targeting and engaging older adults in the Arab region.
Keywords:
older persons; Arab region; information and communication technologies; scoping review
1. Introduction
Information and communication technology (ICT) or information technology (IT)
refers to all forms of technology that are repurposed or used as is to process, store, or
communicate [
1
]. ICT has proved to be positively associated with improved outcomes
when used by older persons as a source of support for various tasks across multiple en-
vironments. Research studies targeting older persons’ ICT use have focused on a variety
of aspects, including improving vocational and employment skills [
2
–
4
], enhancing daily
living skills [
5
,
6
], providing means for communication and social inclusion [
2
,
7
,
8
], and sup-
porting emergent literacy [
4
,
5
,
9
]. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an inevitable surge
in the use of ICT by older persons due to the social distancing norms and lockdowns [
10
].
ICT became the most effective way to keeping older persons informed and socially con-
nected [
10
]. Consequently, the COVID-19 pandemic brought the issue of digital divides,
mainly those associated with older age, to the forefront of the public agenda [
11
]. The
term ‘digital divide’ is understood in various ways. In this paper, the term digital divide
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 7258. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12147258 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci
