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.