Impact of Older Adults' Internet Use on Economic Burden of Informal Caregiving

This study examines the impact of older adults' Internet use on care hours and its influence on estimating national cost savings with active and potential Internet users. Using data from the 2015 National Health and Aging Trends Study (n = 1,806), we employed a survey weighted two-part model with gamma distribution. The cost savings were estimated by a replacement approach. Older adults' health-related Internet use was associated with a substantially reduced hours of informal care by 27.7% (19.8 hours per month, p < .05). An annually estimated cost reduction of informal caregiving was US$3,094 per older adult with functional difficulties by replacing the 2020 median wage of home health aide workers. The annual cost savings in informal caregiving are estimated to be US$8.1 billion with active users and US$20.1 billion with potential health-related Internet users. Promoting health-related Internet use among older adults with functional difficulties could help relieve the economic burden of informal caregiving.