Elderly Online: Effects of a Digital Inclusion Program in Cognitive Performance

There is little empirical data about the impact of digital inclusion on cognition among older adults. This paper aimed at investigating the effects of a digital inclusion program in the cognitive performance of older individuals who participated in a computer learning workshop named "Idosos On-Line" (Elderly Online). Forty-two aged individuals participated in the research study: 22 completed the computer training workshop and 20 constituted the control group. All subjects answered a sociodemographic questionnaire and completed the Addenbrooke's cognitive examination, revised (ACE-R), which examines five cognitive domains: orientation and attention, memory, verbal fluency, language, and visuo-spatial skills. It was noted that the experimental group's cognitive performance significantly improved after the program, particularly in the language and memory domains, when compared to the control group. These findings suggest that the acquisition of new knowledge and the use of a new tool, that makes it possible to access the Internet, may bring gains to cognition.