Addressing the Digital Gap for the Older Persons and their caregivers in the State of Qatar: A Stakeholders' Perspective

The demographics in the Arab world are expected to go through a change in the coming decades. It is projected that the older population in Qatar will increase. Access to and use of information communication technology (ICT) by older persons and their caregivers has rarely been discussed. This study exposes the perspectives of the policy-level stakeholders and non-profit organizations working with older persons regarding the access and use of ICT. Through focus groups, the study investigates existing services and identifies the challenges encountered within the ICT Ecosystem. The study also attempts to explore their personal perspectives toward the access and use of older persons and their caregivers to ICT Thematic analysis was employed to capture the main themes emerging from exchanges with the stakeholders. Five themes emerged to stress the importance of existing efforts, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the extent of technology acceptance. The findings revealed the extent of partnership between the different institutes when providing the different services, conducting raising awareness activities, and training campaigns, and supporting the technology acceptance. The paper concludes by providing recommendations for stakeholders on ways to address the digital gap.