Technology's Role in Helping Seniors Participate

Common stereotype says that seniors are very hesitant to use technology, but if you look at the data, it actually is the other way around. Pew Research Center found that almost 60 percent of American seniors regularly go online, and almost half of them says that they even have high-speed internet connection at home. Their northern neighbors also exhibits a similar behaviour with Statistics Canada reporting that Canadian seniors are the fastest growing segment of internet users in their population. However, it is still undeniable that there are challenges associated with the new toys that they have. Among which is a portion of the senior population’s difficulty to physically use technology. Disability and chronic illnesses is not uncommon and that prevents from using the devices to participate in the online world. Furthermore, the lack of confidence and hesitation among seniors never seem to go away. While half of the seniors surveyed says that they experience what young people call FOMO or fear of missing out, a significant portion still says that having no internet does not make them miss out on important events and such. The biggest hurdle would be the learning curve associated with using a device and an app. Continue Reading...