Older Adult Gamers: Digital Game Genres and the Perceived Benefits of Gameplay

In this rapidly aging society, successful aging is drawing the attention of not only older adults but also of researchers who want to help the older population to improve or maintain their well-being. The digital game is a promising technology that could assist in successful aging. This survey study profiled older adults on background characteristics, various aspects of the digital games that they played as well as on the amount of time spent playing games and on the perceived benefits of digital game playing. 875 older adults, over the age of 55, were recruited from shopping malls, community centers, and seniors’ centers in the Greater Vancouver area. However, only the data of the 463 older adults who played digital games were analyzed. Certain types of digital games were found to have significant associations with some of the background characteristics of older adults. Significant associations were found among the different types of digital games that older adults played, the amount of time they spent playing games, and the perceived benefits of playing digital games. These results revealed a number of new findings regarding the types of digital games that older adults play and the identification of new areas of future research.