Samenvatting

The importance of physiotherapy for older adults is observable in the benefits of prevention. The risk of falling can be decreased or an invasive surgery can be postponed. Over the past decades, technology has faced an exponential development. Consecutively, new treatment possibilities can be offered, contributing to the best patient-centred care. These chances should be equally offered to every patient. Unfortunately, previous studies have shown that this is not the case due to ageism. Indeed, decisions may be unfairly taken based upon prejudices and stereotypes drawn by our society.
One of these prejudices is that older adults (65+) are less at ease with technology. Therefore, they could be considered less as a target population, despite the benefits that Technology may provide. In the end, the choice is made by the physiotherapist. Therefore, the importance to wonder whether or not ageism leads to more negative attitudes towards older adults using digital technology.
A correlation between ageism and negative attitudes towards older adults using digital Technology exists. (p-value=0.003). An Increase of negative attitudes towards older adults using technology is paired with an increase of the Fabroni Scale of Ageism (with a coefficient of 0.347). Moreover, it was found that the higher the age of the patient, physiotherapist indicated they would be less likely to use these digital tools with them.