technology
At home online
Pandemic offers prime
opportunity for older Aussies
to embrace technology
and beat the isolation.
By Conor Burke
The current restrictions placed
on our social lives offer a prime
opportunity for older Australians to
take advantage of new technologies aimed
at staying socially connected.
That is according to CQUniversity’s
adjunct professorial research fellow
Dr Lynne Parkinson, who says that the use
of technology to connect with family and
friends during this period will become vital
and a welcome new skill for many – and
she believes older Aussies are up for the
challenge.
“Older people are just as competent with
technology as younger people when that
technology is introduced in a patient and
staged way,” Parkinson explains.
Isolation is nothing new for many aged
care residents, and loneliness is seen as a
growing problem in wider society.
As reported by Time magazine, former
US surgeon general Vivek Murthy calls
loneliness a “growing health epidemic”.
In a Harvard Business Review essay, he
refers to a study that says social isolation
is “associated with a reduction in lifespan
similar to that caused by smoking 15
cigarettes a day”.
In an Australian context, one in four of us
have reported feeling lonely once a week,
while one in two sometimes or always feel
alone. About 30 per cent say they don’t
belong to a friendship group.
Simon Tatz, Australian Medical
Association director of public health, has
recently written about the subject.
He cites a Lifeline survey from 2016 that
found more than 80 per cent of Australians
believe society is becoming a lonelier place.
Tatz also points to research that
says loneliness is a risk factor for early
death and “that feelings of loneliness can
increase the likelihood of earlier death by
26 per cent”.
However, the coronavirus pandemic has
forced many to embrace social media and
video-conferencing software, like Zoom
and Skype, to have their catchups with
friends and family.
Parkinson believes that older Aussies
are already well placed to tackle new ways
to use technology, and it can simply be a
matter of finding a patient teacher.
“I think you’ll find that quite a few older
people already have a bit of tech in their
home, and it’s actually pretty easy to use
the tech that you’ve got. That can be an old
computer, an old laptop, a tablet if you’ve
got one, or it could be a smartphone,” says
Parkinson.
“We know that 91 per cent of people
over 60 in Australia have a smartphone.
When it comes to people who are over 80,
it’s something like 70 per cent.
“We have just done research to show
they can use this tech and they can really
get turned onto this tech.
“It’s not difficult to have a video chat or
whatever, it’s really quite easy. They need
someone who is patient enough just to go,
‘Look, just give this a try,’ and take them
step by step through what needs to happen
for them to get online.
“In our experience, they are usually
delighted when they actually find that they
can use it for all those other purposes in
their lives.”
Parkinson argues that, apart from the
social benefits, older Aussies may be forced
to embrace technology for everyday tasks
such as paying the bills and shopping.
“So they will have their smartphones, but
they are still going to their bank to make
deposits,” she says.
“There are people out there who still pay
their bills by hand, and I think that’s going
to be one of the places where they need
to change. They are going to go, ‘Oh, I
can’t go out, but I do need to go over this
techno thing.’
“There has been a certain level of
resistance to change, no matter what age
group you are, but I think one of the issues
I have been a bit worried about is people
being aged and saying, ‘Well, older people
can’t use this tech.’”
Research indicates that it is often ageism
that stops people using technology later in
life, and the idea that the brain can’t learn
new things as it ages is false.
Embracing new technology can be an
important way to keep the mind sharp and
engaged as human contact goes down in
times of aged care restrictions.
Parkinson says that aged care facilities
are embracing this change, but she urges
homes that are lagging behind to invest in
tablets and get residents connected.
“A lot of them already have it, but do
invest in that little bit of technology, and
they can have that connection with families
because that is amazingly important,”
she says.
And the government could also help to
support older Aussies with this technology
transition.
“Rural areas especially still lag behind in
access to stable internet, and a remedy for
this is urgent.
“Free internet for people over 65 would
be excellent.”
In Italy recently, a priest decided to
live-stream a mass due to COVID-19.
Unfortunately, he activated the humorous
video filters by mistake.
Parkinson says that for the foreseeable
future, people will be forced to live more of
their lives online – including online church
and online friendships – and people
shouldn’t be afraid to have a go.
“These days, everything is online and
people really do need it; they need it for
aged care, they need it for internet banking.
And I think this is just marvellous. It’s
actually motivation to get online.
“What we have to do is just support them
and be really positive and say it’s not going
to be easy, but you can do it because we
know you can.
“One of the things that we really
encourage is lifelong learning and that
people can actually learn how to use
a computer or tablet when they are
80. There’s no technical reason why
that would be a problem, it’s actually
very simple.” ■
28 agedcareinsite.com.au