[Challenges and development of a nutritional management service system home page that targets personal computer novices 65 years of age or older].
OBJECTIVE
We intended to develop contents for nutritional management for elderly people using the Internet, and to consider factors relatied to the promotion of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use.


METHODS
A questionnaire survey was carried out consisting of items on diet support conditions and promoting the use of ICT by the elderly. Then, we developed a nutritional management system using a home page on a trial basis, after which n we studied the need, operability and environmental support of this system.


RESULTS
Regarding the state of ICT use more than one- half of the respondents were daily users of the Internet 62.4%, and mobile phones 65.2%. On the four items on diet, such as "buy the same food, forget to buy food", 22.7%responded that "forget to buy food", which was the highest, and interest in "lunch home delivery" showed a low percentage. Among the respondents 19.6% answer "yes" to the question that memory, "have trouble remembering where you put things" and 13.4% responded that they forget to take medicine". There was a positive correlation of what with five items on operability, "What is simple and easy to use is good" and the effectiveness of personal computers and mobile phones has been shown. In addition, 32.3% responded "When the operation is difficult, the use becomes inconvenient".


CONCLUSIONS
It was suggested that by setting up an opportunity to experience the effectiveness and the satisfaction of using a system that addresses elderly people's concerns, we can modify attitudes and provide motivation, reducing the sense of weakness or irrelevance that can hinder the use of a nutritional management system. It was suggested that along with the sense of effectiveness of screen displays with color instructions and simple design that match the physical characteristics of the elderly, the sense of being able to operate the system afterwards will affect the need for ICT use and utilization rate.
Prefectural University of Hiroshima.
Kimiko
K
Sato
Atsushi
A
Hosokawa
Seiji
S
Nishida
Akemi
A
Kariya
Satoshi
S
Imaizumi
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004034:Diet Surveys; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008838:Microcomputers; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires