Alleviating social isolation for the older generation

It could be argued that technology has encroached on nearly all aspects of our lives. From communicating with friends, gaming, managing your home and even to tracking your exercise.

Many people have researched into the effects it is having on the younger generation, how they may be losing the art of conversation, have lost the beauty of boredom and ability to just sit and be with their own thoughts.

Let’s flip this research on its head, let’s move past the negative impacts on the younger generation and, instead, let’s focus on how technology can empower and improve the lives of our older generation.

Loneliness

According to AgeUK, there are 3.6 million older people currently living alone and nearly 2 million older people who feel ignored or invisible. Loneliness and isolation in the older generation is a significant problem and can have serious effects on someone’s health and wellbeing.

As an ageing population, this is a pivotal moment whereby we look to technology and how it can combat loneliness and alleviate isolation. As a society, we have a significant role to play in ensuring our ageing population is empowered, skilled, healthy and able to contribute fully to society.

This is not about getting our grandparents on Instagram - it’s much bigger than that and there are so many use cases on how technology can go a long way in giving older people their independence back whilst ensuring they are connected in this ever-changing world.

Breaking barriers

In a report written by the Government Office of Science, they discuss the importance of moving away from the model where education only happens at the beginning of our lives.

There are huge benefits to ensuring our learning and development continues throughout our lifetimes - it ensures we stay up to date with our rapidly changing environment, remain engaged with society and do not detach ourselves through fear or intimidation of new technologies.

We should be encouraging our older generation to embrace technology and not avoid it. From showing our grandparents the ropes on our smartphones to companies like Barclays, who have set up Eagle Labs, to teach more and more people about tech. We should all be striving to keep learning.

Technology is quickly becoming more and more accessible to all demographics, from very young children to people living with disabilities - technology should no longer be seen as ‘too complicated’ to use. When it comes to combating loneliness, alleviating isolation and encouraging independent living in the older generation, here’s how we see tech playing a key role:

Mobile

Research from Mobiles.co.uk found that 90 percent of over-50s love getting a brand new smartphone, while 42 percent has a phone that's less than two years old.

According to Mazuma Mobile, over 50% of the older generation use their smartphone every day. Smartphones are a great way to keep connected with family and friends with apps like WhatsApp, FaceTime & Social Media.

Social Media

‘Silver Surfers’ as they’ve been suitably dubbed, can benefit greatly from the rise in popularity of social apps like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Facebook’s new mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what's going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them. Meetup groups can give an elderly person suffering from loneliness the opportunity to engage with others in a similar position.

Voice

Voice devices are becoming hugely popular and it is said that 50% of all searches will be done via voice by 2020. This has huge potential for the older generation as it can assist someone’s day to day living. From phoning family and friends to being able to say ‘Alexa, Good morning’ and having the device reply with a set morning routine like detailing the weather, reading the news aloud and playing your favourite radio station. Not only does it encourage older people to reconnect and have something/one to speak to, but it also enables them to live an independent life.

Conclusion

As an ageing population, we should be looking to support and empower the older generation to remain connected with society and able to live independent lives. In today’s world, isolation should not be as much of an issue as it currently is. The key is to break the barriers and stigma around the older generation accessing and using tech and instead encourage them to embrace it.