Most related research about intra-family communication follows the reality of
developed countries, where older adults can live independently from their
families and are likely to embrace technology. Contrarily, in Chile and other
Latin American countries, most older adults live close to their families, are
usually dependent of the latter, and rarely use digital means to communicate.
Through cross-generational interviews, we identified attitudes, agreements, and
expectations that describe how middle class Chilean families, living in urban
settlements, interact with their elders. The study findings indicate that the
approach used by the adult children to take care of their parents produces a
vicious circle that stresses out the former and limits the technology adoption
of the latter. Therefore, new ways of interacting with the elderly are required
and digital technology has the potential to produce this change