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Las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC) pueden ser una herramienta facilitadora para el Trabajo Social en la intervención con las personas adultas mayores.
Mediante la siguiente revisión se pretende conocer el contexto, los usos, las aplicaciones, las barreras y las dificultades de las TIC en la intervención social con las personas mayores en Europa. Para ello, se usó el protocolo PRISMA 2020 y la búsqueda se realizó en las bases de datos Web of Science y Scopus. En el proceso de selección se identificaron 143 artículos, de los cuales se incluyeron finalmente 12. Los resultados se presentan en tres categorías: contexto, aplicación, y uso, barreras y dificultades de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación. Según los resultados, estas tecnologías tienen potencial para la mejora y la eficacia en la intervención social, la promoción de la autonomía personal y la mejora de la calidad de vida para las personas mayores. Se concluye que es importante que las intervenciones y las investigaciones futuras involucren a personas mayores, profesionales y cuidadores/as en la aplicación de las herramientas digitales.
TIC, trabajo social, intervención social, personas mayores, autonomía personal
The progressive aging of the population, as well as the pandemic produced by the Covid-19 virus, have had an impact on societies and people's lives. Especially more deeply about the elderly who, due to their age, may present more problems related to health in their last years of life. For this reason, a large percentage of older people need health, psychological, and/or social care and intervention. In this way, the role of social workers is essential, and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are a set of resources, tools, equipment, computer programs, applications, networks, and means that can facilitate and support the intervention of Social Work with old people.
This paper seeks to know the context, uses, applications, barriers, and difficulties of Information and Communication Technologies in social intervention with the elderly in Europe.
For this, a systematic review of the scientific literature in this regard has been carried out between 2017 and 2022, considering the continuous advancement of these technologies. The reseeded using what is indicated in the PRISMA 2020 protocol to carry out meticulous and quality work. The information search was carried out in the Web of Science and Scopus databases and 143 articles were identified, of which 12 were finally included in the review. Of these, the authorship, the year, the territorial scope, the discipline of the journal, the methodology used, the results, and the main conclusions were collected.
The results of the systematic review are presented in three categories: context; application and use; and barriers and difficulties of Information and Communication Technologies.
According to the results, these technologies can offer opportunities that favor the quality of life, well-being, and personal autonomy of the elderly, their families, their caregivers, and professionals.
In addition, three contexts of social intervention were identified with the technological tools: the home, the community, and the institutional contexts. It is worth noting that practically no studies of the community context have been found, the most frequent being the person's own home. After the pandemic, a greater risk of isolation among the elderly has been confirmed.
On the other hand, various utilities are observed in its use, such as: addressing loneliness and isolation; resources for improving health in depression, anxiety, stress, or anguish; or promoting personal autonomy, learning capacity, and independence, among others. However, technology can also be challenging because its use can sometimes be complicated to understand.
It is concluded that it is important that future interventions and research involve older people, professionals, and caregivers in the application of digital tools. In addition, knowledge and understanding of the use of technological tools must be increased. For this, it is necessary to adopt measures that facilitate access and participation. Likewise, it is necessary to promote and consolidate the adaptation of technology to the needs and characteristics of the elderly. The objective must be to get the most out of them to facilitate social well-being, the promotion of personal autonomy, and the quality of life of the elderly.
