Aged Care Insite Issue 112 | Apr-May 2019 | Page 34

technology Senior living 2.0 Aged care Insite spoke with Riley to hear about the six ways technology can improve the lives of the over-60s. ACI: How have you come up with these six ways? How can older people embrace technology to improve their quality of life? Marcus Riley interviewed by Conor Burke T echnology is increasingly making our lives easier: food delivered to your door at the touch of a button, movies on demand day or night, and of course, never having to read a map when driving are all pretty nifty. But government statistics show that 74 per cent of Australians aged 70 or older are “digitally disengaged”, and 34 per cent of people over 50 (about 2.7 million people) have either low digital literacy levels or do not use digital devices or the internet. However, according to positive ageing advocate, author and director of the Global Ageing Network, Marcus Riley, the emerging generation of older people are becoming increasingly engaged with technology, and he has outlined a number of ways that technology can help “successful ageing”. Riley believes that although they might have found it difficult at first, older people are actively using technology, with 85 per cent of people aged 65 years or older using the internet at least once a day. “The once resistant, older generations are engaging with technology to not only help them maintain their quality of life, but in some instances, even improve it,” he says. “An interesting thing to note is that older generations are even influencing the development of technology as it adapts to meet the demands of our ageing population.” 32 agedcareinsite.com.au MR: The observations are based on a number of different aspects, partly through my own reading and research, certainly through engagement with different organisations I’m involved with directly, as well as other networks. There’s also the feedback you get through dialoguing with colleagues and others associated with the ageing industry – some from a tech perspective, others from a service point of view, and obviously consumers themselves. Let’s go through the six ways. The first is how technology supports preventive and restorative health. That’s really to do with the increasing willingness of people to engage with technology to support their own health and wellbeing. People are better embracing technology, and that’s coupled with another aspect, which is people’s greater propensity to understand their health and wellbeing. People are looking at different ways in which they can support their health and maintain it, as well as those who might be looking to restore or recover some of their physical capacity. I think those two aspects have come together and we are seeing more and more people use technology to support their health and wellbeing. Another aspect is that the providers of technology have better engaged with an older cohort to provide options that people are looking for and are more comfortable with. That’s seeing a greater uptake of certain devices and resources that are now available. Are we talking things like Fitbits, or apps that track your food intake? Yes. There are those which are related to exercise, be they wearable devices or other ways of recording different activities and different levels, as well as devices that might help you track certain conditions, whether it’s heart rates or other things that people are plugging into. People can use that information to maintain health, whether the focus is on nutrition and diet, or on exercise. It’s certainly across those aspects of the technology device themselves, plus the platforms to record and utilise information. Another area that’s been increasingly important is using technology as a tool for social connectivity. I assume that has a lot to do with the loneliness and isolation elder Australians often feel? That’s right. It’s certainly a way in which people can help alleviate the risk of isolation and loneliness. What we’ve been seeing is varied use. The connectivity is often with family, particularly when family are living afar, but also within friendship groups, within other interest groups that people are plugging into to either access information about activities they might want to be involved with, to gather more information about areas of interest for them. From that social connection point of view, there’s research showing that this older cohort is one of the fastest growing when it comes to certain social media platforms. We’re even getting to the stage now where some of the younger people are actually abandoning some these platforms because mum, dad or the grandparents are on there. There are some interesting dynamics emerging in some of that online space. You also mentioned the e-economy. How are older people taking to internet banking and shopping online? The emerging generation of older people are more open to using online platforms for banking and purchasing. Previously, we had that older generation who preferred to go into a bank to have an interpersonal transaction. Also, the major financial institutions and online retailers are making those transactions simpler in terms of how to process and navigate your way through. This is a very interesting one, in the sense in that it can support people’s independence, whether it’s getting groceries delivered, or whether it’s some of the banking transactions that people are able to do for themselves from the comfort of their own home, rather than asking or relying on someone else to be doing it for them or to be making appointments.