Thoughts on Seniors and the Digital Divide
The ease and ability of seniors in our society to use ICTs to access information and complete tasks is a specific topic area within the digital divide debate and some of my thoughts on this were sparked by the release of a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation last week: ‘Online Health Information Poised to Become Important Resource For Seniors, But Not There Yet - Digital Divide Puts Many Seniors At Disadvantage‘.
My parents behaviour in this realm correlates with the statistics from the report, gathered in the US, which show that more people aged 50-64 years (my parents’ age bracket) have gone online and use email than citizens 65+ years old. Both Mum and Dad make full use of the internet and email for staying in touch, finding information, booking events, banking and pursuing interests. Dad regularly spends up to 4 hours a day on a forum for owners of the ZR7 Kawasaki motorcycle sharing maintenance advice, travel stories and photos with other enthusiasts around the world. Mum emails friends and family with the latest news, forwards jokes and photos, writes comments on my blog and does her banking online. I am quite impressed with the way they have been willing to learn new methods and take advantage of the benefits.
This wasn’t available to my grandmother when she was alive, maybe because by the time the internet and email had become commonplace, she was living in retirement home in a small apartment, was not very mobile, had failing eye-sight and perhaps most significantly,no one thought that she would be interested or have a need for a computer. A couple she was friends with of a slightly younger age group and who had the advantage of more mobility were learning how to use email and attended regular computer classes at the centre, I remember. They admitted they found it difficult and frequently needed help but I expect over time they would have been able to achieve the basics.
Pondering it, I think it would have been good for Nana to have that opportunity too. I’m not sure if there was a public computer in the retirement home or if she was offered the chance to learn about it but she was very intelligent, keenly interested in the world and and up-to-date so I expect when her health was ok, she would have been open to it. It could have provided her with another channel for keeping in touch with her family and friends. It seems that loneliness and institutionalisation are big problems for the aged who live in places like this. Not having the mobility to get out must have been so monotonous - the day seems so long when you can’t get around. We all know what it’s like when cooped up sick in bed. It gets tedious and depressing if you’ve had no visitors for a while or human contact.
Apart from considering what additional opportunities we could provide for our senior seniors, there’s a long way to go in making computers easier and more streamlined for them. It’s often difficult for less experienced users to understand why technology breaks down or doesn’t do what’s expected. Older people additionally have to battle with not having experience from a young age with computers, lower energy levels, reduced physical dexterity and restricted incomes.
I reckon a good place to start would be Windows Explorer. It’s one of my most critical tools but I know that when I started working with computers I was bamboozled by it and I have observed that many new users of technology do not find it easy to navigate and orient themselves among their files. There must be a better way of presenting the file system to users. It annoys me that Windows Explorer is hidden away on Windows in Program files > Accessories. The average user wouldn’t find it there or know what it was. I believe that one of the biggest causes of grief and frustration for the novice user is this veiling of basic system navigation - whether the reason for this is to make users dependant on individual software programs or a result of legacy designs, surely we can come up with something better. Maybe it’s time to move away from the one-operating system-fits-all model perhaps grown from the push for profit by enabling the deployment of the latest version as quickly and to as many people as possible to an approach which favours a pluarality of methods and programs for basic operation of the computer customised to a user’s knowledge, needs and preferences.
I enjoyed reading your very well written article. Yes, what you say is so true. I really enjoy using the computer and the internet and I’m grateful that I was introduced to it soon enough. Funny thing just today I was wondering if Dad will still do his ZR7 stuff when he is really old. I suppose the interest wanes as we become less mobile and less able mentally. I was amazed recently when my neighbour who is a very experienced primary school teacher asked for my advice re some emailing. She told me she has never sent an email. I couldn’t believe it even though they have a top of the range computer in their home. Of course one should never laugh or show disdain in that situation which is just what your article portrays and you are an excellent and patient teacher, Ruth when it comes to IT stuff……just a pity I’m such a slow learner. I am, however, proud of the way I can do Netbanking etc etc. Thanks Ruth for a very enlightening piece of information. Well done!!
I’m glad you enjoyed reading it. It’s good to get different perspectives on these things. It seems a pity that the world often gets smaller for the oldies but I guess that’s just life. You’re not a slow learner, I don’t think.
It’s wonderful that people feel confident enough to harness the technology available and commnicate via e-mail. Mum writes to her sister and brother via this medium and I think that were it not for the net, she wouldn’t stay in contact with them as frequently as she does. I e-mail Sue a lot - much more so than we talk on the phone. I also have a pen pal in Israel who is 72! and a former surgeon. She writes all the time and she says she even went to classes in order to master her computer and the internet.
Yeah it’s great. There are a lot of people I keep in contact with now who I probably would have lost touch with especially people overseas.
The other day I took some “Meals on Wheels” ladies out for their monthly lunch supplied at a Community Centre
and one of the ladies told me she uses the internet for emailing. She would probably be eightyish.