Assessment of Digital Risk of Senior Care in Shandong Province: A Focus on the Digital Divide

Aging of the population has implications for the elderly, family care, social welfare and labor, and government finances in China. Moreover, there is a gap between the elderly and others in the use of digital tools. It is difficult and inconvenient to obtain digital information and use digital information, thus forming the phenomenon of digital divide. Under the background of digital divide, the elderly is faced with many digital risk problems, and how to deal with these problems has become a very important research topic. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of digital tools by the elderly, to analyze the digital risks they faced, and to provide the research suggestions. The data were obtained through in-depth interviews with 17 respondents and 332 valid questionnaires. The results show that elderly is more likely to own smartphones and use them to make calls and pay for daily purchases. In addition, common digital risks for the elderly include online shopping risk, time risk, privacy risk, financial risk and psychological risk. The study suggested that the government should strengthen publicity on online shopping precautions and cooperate with universities or research institutions to raise and prevent digital risk awareness among the elderly.