Aging & Society: Eighth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

Studies on ageing and video games have largely employed quantitative data collected from the elderly living in institutionalized homes. This study adopts observational data collected from a group of aging adults living in the community and examines the process in which video gaming affects the well-being of older adults living in a working-class neighborhood in Hong Kong. Participant observation was conducted of a group of seven older adults aged between forty and seventies who have been playing PokemonGo (PKMG), a popular mobile device game, since October 2016. These older adults are mostly not active members in the labor market due to retirement or family reasons. Most of them live with their spouses and adult children except one man who lives with his elderly parents and younger brother. Although they have lived in the neighborhood for more than twenty years, they are loosely integrated in the community. They have limited ties with their neighbors and do not participate in any community activity. Findings show that PKMG contributes to the physical, psychological, and social well-being of these older adults in three ways. First, PKMG requires players to physically travel in the real world to collect Pokemons. The design of the game thus encourages players to do a lot of walking, that helps lower the informants’ blood pressure and cholesterol level. Second, players of the game can win different medals after completing certain tasks or meeting certain targets. This gives the informants a sense of accomplishment and boosts their self-esteem. Completing the tasks also becomes a daily routine for them and that provides them with a sense of purpose in their everyday life. Third, the English game instructions pose a language challenge for our informants whose native language is Chinese and who have received only basic education. This motivates them to seek help from other players in the proximity, forging interpersonal relationships with strangers in the community. As they play the game and meet each other almost everyday, a relatively stable network is formed. Membership in the network gives our informants not only access to social support, but also a sense of belonging and identity. Implications of the findings will be discussed.