Interesting blog entry on: How the Internet and digital technology can combat social isolation

I read this blog entry in the blog: Connecting Social Care and Social Media.
Shirleyayres presents 7 internet based or digital resources to keep socially isolated older people connected. I list them here with my comments.

• DropBy - a functionality laden website, for which you need to have web literacy to access it 
• The casserole club - you need to have web access to find your neighbour cooking a spare meal - I assume that once a relationship is established you can check with your neighbour by phoning them
• Good Gym - usually when an older person is active (physically fit) they are not socially isolated - I wonder how the project accesses the socially isolated older person
• Mindings - technology needs to be bought / set-up, so the dispersed family member is connected and this will include technical support - who is giving this?
• Gen2Gen - a young volunteer gets trained to give computer support to an older person. I think it is a great way to bring generations together... I suspect not only older people would like to have some IT support
• Alive - a reminiscence work with help of the internet's resources... absolutely great, but notice the emphasis would be on the 'therapist' working with the older person
• Chill4usCarers - lots of carers are older people and that is great, though web literacy is required again in order to make use of this site 

Overall, it brings home to me that real connectivity can only be done through people and that the technology can only support the 'connector' or carer.... I don't think that any of the technologies listed here are made easy enough for a computer in-experienced older person to use, except the Gen2Gen project. There I'd say it's important to understand that the relationship, which will be built with the older person is based on trust and that volunteers should not change frequently. 

I look forward to further developments in technology to combat isolation...

Thanks Shirley for starting to compile a list. 

Older people as inexperienced user

Last week (7th March 13) I took part at Open University's workshop: Older People and Online Social Interactions - Examining Usability, Accessibility and Online Safety aspects.
It was a very interesting and useful workshop where Shailey Minocha and team presented the results of their current research into older people and social online interaction. The workshop consisted of a mix of people either designers or people working in accessibility, representing organisations working with older people, researching older people and older people themselves. We were asked to input with our feedback on their research results such as feedback on personas and guidelines they had created.
One interesting aspect for me was the feedback at the end of the day. One woman said that she didn't feel old and that she felt patronised by the way issues were discussed. She pointed out that many of the problems occur due to inexperience of using the web or the computer and that this hasn't got anything to do with age. I completely agree with her. Many of the issues that we experience when using online technology (e.g. password management) are the same tricky / confusing / dangerous / risky for anyone of any age, but particularly disconcerting for someone who is inexperienced. It doesn't matter whether they are young or old.
But watching this BBC video just now makes me think again about the difference between an inexperienced young person and an inexperienced older person. In this video they keep on mentioning how the older person is used to the analog world where you, for example, press the button harder if it didn't work the first time.

An inexperienced (with online technology) young person hasn't got necessarily pre-conceptions on how they think the technology works. Younger people are known to learn more through trial and error. They try things out and see what happens. Younger people are better connected through groups. Either in school / circle of friends / hobbies. In those groups they can discuss their experiences.

An inexperienced (with online technology) older person has got life experience in using other technologies. Learning strategies of older people are usually by applying existing knowledge, to read instructions and to work things out by understanding them first. They might have pre-conceived ideas from previous technologies on how things might work. They are more cautious in trying things out. And here comes the greatest difference I think, older people are less well connected to groups where they could easily discuss experiences or ask questions about their computer use. Note: I use the term older people, meaning people starting from the age of 65 years plus. Many people in their 60s and 70s are still very active and likely well connected to groups / family members. But with the group of 80+ year old the social connections and activities reduce to due various reasons such as health issues, mobility problems, peers dying.

So I wonder how much having previous knowledge of using technology actually hinders a person (of any age) to understand the new technology? Or is it the lost connection to groups, which stops people from trying things out and sharing their experiences?