Aged Care Guide, August 2017
The number of older Australians playing video games is on the up, and for good reason, according to the latest results in a series of studies into video games in Australia.
Studying 1,234 households and 3,135 individuals, Digital Australia 2018 revealed that Australians over the age of 65 have made up the largest group of new players over the past six years.
Lead author of the report and Bond University professor Dr Jeff Brand says that 43% of over-65s now play video games.
"There are certain stereotypes that society has created about video games, and the reality is that it's not just teenage boys playing games in their room," he says.
"The average age of video gamers is going up and, through the study, people are talking to us about their experiences. Older adults explain why they play and what they get out of it, and one thing that I kept reading in the responses was that people believed video games are useful in improving mental, physical and social wellbeing."
In the past, Dr Brand says, the number of people playing video games used to decline with age — especially in the 65–84 bracket. But in the last two studies, an increase in women aged 65 and over taking part in gameplay has occurred instead of the historic decline.
"This increase was seen in this recent study and the one before, and it surprised me to my core as a researcher," he says. "It really breaks down three really big stereotypes about video games: that only the young play, that they are for men, and that game playing declines as you age."
As part of the study, each participant completes a survey about why they play video games, for how long, and which games they play.
"The women aged over 65 are, on average, spending an hour to an hour and a half participating in gameplay each day — and mostly interactive games with people they know, like Words With Friends," Dr Brand says.
"Traditionally, when we ask adults why they play video games, the top reasons are to have fun and pass time. But over the last two studies in particular, we can see that as the age of players increases, the main reason for playing changes to keeping an active mind. For the women in the 65-and-over bracket, the main reason they give for playing is to fend off dementia — and they mention it far more than men."
In the survey, participants were asked whether they believed video games could potentially help people age well: 90% said they believe video games have the potential to help with ageing well, 80% thought they are useful in fighting off dementia, and 75% believed video games improve life satisfaction and help them live optimistically.
"I believe the positive benefits of ageing with games are many. As people age, they want to age well, and they do believe gaming can help with positive ageing — it's reflected in the answers participants gave us," Dr Brand says. "They believe they can keep their minds active and pass the time in a productive way."
The games older Australians report playing include Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit (especially in aged care and retirement living), Minecraft, Civilisation, AAA online action-adventure titles (often played to connect with grandchildren), and games on smartphones and tablets.
"There are some very powerful observations of what video games are used for; what was once a toy is now a full-blown medium with a wide audience," Dr Brand says. "One of the most critical messages this is sending to me is that just because you are older, it doesn't mean you can't explore emerging media and enjoy new technology."