A Study of the Relationship and Mechanism between Internet Use and Health of the Migrant Elderly
The widespread use of the Internet has created opportunities to enhance the physical and mental health as well as the human resource development of the elderly individuals.This study is based on the survey data from the mobile elderly residents in Beijing to investigate the relationship and mechanisms between the Internet use and the health of these individuals.The study also explores the characteristics and issues related to their Internet Use.The findings indicate that Internet use can promote the health of the migrant eld-erly individuals.The frequency of Internet use exhibits an inverted U-shaped relationship with their health.Specifically,when the In-ternet is solely utilized for socializing and entertainment purposes,the frequency of Internet use is significantly negatively correlated with their physical health.However,when it is used for both socializing,entertainment,and health management,the frequency of In-ternet use is significantly positively correlated with their physical and mental health.The promotion of this relationship is facilitated by family support,social integration,and exercise.It is observed that the elderly individuals with a lower level of education tend to use the Internet more frequently for socializing and entertainment,but lack sufficient utilization of health management.Therefore,in order to leverage the empowering function of the Internet for promoting health,efforts should be made at the national,societal,familial,and individual levels.It is necessary to enhance the Internet skills of the migrant elderly and encourage them to use the Internet actively,moderately and diversely,and to prevent excessive entertainment-oriented usage.This continuous promotion and cultivation of a healthy human capital among the migrant elderly will actively address the opportunities and challenges brought by population aging and social digitization.
the migrant elderlyInternet usephysical and mental healthhealthy human capital
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
维普
