With the advent of the Internet, we have witnessed a whole new communication world open up for people. The Internet and related technology advancement of various devices mean that people can stay in touch with each other in today’s world, purchase products online, and engage with content in many formats as a result. Technology has also played a huge part in making the world safer for vulnerable people such as older adults. While the advancements continue to develop over time, the key challenge for this segment of the population is adoption.
With the Internet being relatively new, we still have to be mindful that large cohorts of the older adult demographic would be new to technology and may not be comfortable using it. Patience is so important here from the perspective of involving family members or carers to teach older adults how to use these various technologies that will inevitably make their lives better.
In these pandemic times, many older adults find themselves “cocooning” from the outside world to shield themselves from Covid-19. This, unfortunately, has meant a great deal of isolation – some older adults are literally living alone with literally no physical interaction daily. Other older adults who reside in care homes have seen visitors to the home curtailed in measures related to stopping the spread. So never before has technology been as important because it allows people to stay in touch in a virtual sense with the outside world. Many older adults have been “forced” into this online world because otherwise, they would not interact with any family members or friends.
Technology also plays a part in reassuring younger family members that their older adult parents for example are doing ok in terms of medicine allocation or just in terms of home security. The possibilities are endless with new technology coming on stream every single day.
The people at Be Independent Home Care have put together this infographic below that outlines everything you need to know about tech’ and older adults. The graphic examines some interesting statistics firstly; it then looks at some possible barriers to effective tech’ adoption for older adults; it details some suggested usable tech’ plus it shows some expert advice. Check out the full graphic below!
Click/tap the image to open a large (readable) version, then make it larger (zoom).
6 Ways Technology Is Helping Senior Citizens
