Krause, Amanda E., and Fletcher, Heather (2023) The purpose of radio and how it supports older adults’ well-being. Frontiers in Computer Science, 5. 1111806.

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Abstract

In Australia today, radio continues to draw large audiences, with high engagement among older adults. This research investigated how radio personnel and listeners regard the purpose of radio, and further how engaging with radio is perceived to influence listener wellbeing. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with radio personnel (N = 16) and focus groups with older adult listeners (N = 32) suggest that the purpose of radio is to stay informed (e.g., news and information), for entertainment (e.g., music), and for perceived social purposes (e.g., communion, social connection, company, and companionship). Findings indicate there are implicit and explicit ways in which radio facilitates the wellbeing of their listenership. Explicitly, radio promotes mental health through broadcasts and programming, as well as exploiting the medium of radio as a public service for the community to call and rely on. Participants implicitly indicated that radio acts as a surrogate friend in their home; someone to keep them company and encourage connection to their greater community. Broadly, perceived relationships with radio programs and individual presenters, built and sustained over time through repeating listening, underpin the radio’s ability to support listener wellbeing. These findings have implications for broadcasting practices as well as future work concerning how the radio might be used as a widely accessible tool for promoting quality of older life.

Item ID:	79113
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	2624-9898
Keywords:	psychology of music, music psychology, social and applied psychology of music, radio, broadcasting, well-being, health, media, wellbeing, social surrogacy
Copyright Information:	© 2023 Krause and Fletcher. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Date Deposited:	20 Jun 2023 21:39
FoR Codes:	52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5205 Social and personality psychology > 520505 Social psychology @ 60% 47 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 4701 Communication and media studies > 470107 Media studies @ 40%
SEO Codes:	28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280121 Expanding knowledge in psychology @ 50% 23 LAW, POLITICS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES > 2301 Community services > 230102 Ageing and older people @ 0% 20 HEALTH > 2005 Specific population health (excl. Indigenous health) > 200502 Health related to ageing @ 50%
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