title: Older Veteran Digital Disparities: Examining the Potential for Solutions Within Social Networks.
abstract: Older adults typically have less access to the Internet than other age groups, and older Veterans may use the Internet even less due to economic and geographic reasons.
  
  
  
  To explore solutions to this problem, our study examined older Veterans' reported ability to access technology through their close social ties.
  
  
  
  Data were collected via mail survey from a sample of Veterans aged 65 years and older (N=266).
  
  
  
  Nearly half (44.0%, 117/266) of the sample reported having no Internet access. Yet, among those without current access, older Veterans reported having a median of 5 (IQR 7) close social ties with home Internet access. These older Veterans also reported that they would feel comfortable asking a median of 2 (IQR 4) social ties for help to access the Internet, and that a median of 2 (IQR 4) social ties would directly access the Internet for the older Veteran to help with health management.
  
  
  
  Findings suggest that even older Veterans without current Internet access have at least two social ties with home Internet who could be called upon for technology support. Thus, older Veterans may be willing to call upon these "surrogate seekers" for technology assistance and support in health management. This has implications for the digital divide, technology design, and health care policy.
authors.affiliation: Pitzer College, Claremont, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Tana M
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9626-0776
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Luger
authors.affiliation: Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, Bedford, MA, United States.|Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States.
authors.forename: Timothy P
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6888-0927
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Hogan
authors.affiliation: Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, Bedford, MA, United States.
authors.forename: Lorilei M
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9816-1333
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.affiliation: Department of Graduate Nursing, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4022-7109
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cioffari-Bailiff
authors.affiliation: VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, United States.
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3062-7934
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harvey
authors.affiliation: Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, Bedford, MA, United States.|Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States.
authors.forename: Thomas K
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2909-4018
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Houston
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D060756:Social Networking; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014728:Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Internet; Veterans; digital divide; social network