With technology speeding up, more and more young people begin to use mobile phones and the Internet, but old people have little chance of being exposed to them. In what ways could mobile phones and the Internet be useful to old people? How can old people be encouraged to use this new technology?
It is irrefutable that the young generation today are technophiles and are very comfortable with mobile phones and the internet whereas the elderly are uneasy with the latest technological devices. This essay shall delve into how mobile phones and the internet could be useful for senior citizens and ways to encourage them to use such technology.
Mobile phones and the internet could be beneficial to old people in various ways. To begin with, we all know that a major problem the elderly face is social isolation. Nuclear families predominate these days and even in nuclear families, children have to leave their parents to seek greener pastures abroad. Through mobile phones, the elderly can connect with their kith and kin who live far away from them. For example, through the internet, they can chat with their grandchildren and also see them through web cameras.
Furthermore, the elderly face a lot of health problems. Through mobile phones, they can any time call the ambulance or their relatives and get timely medical help. Through the internet, they can get a consultation from any doctor in any part of the world by showing their digital X-ray or MRI scan. Another advantage of such technology to the elderly is that they can entertain themselves through these gadgets. They have a lot of free time and they can listen to religious hymns, and visit sacred and holy places on the net which they can’t otherwise visit because of failing health. They can also do net banking, online shopping and also book their rail tickets and air tickets online.
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There are a lot of ways to motivate the elderly to use this equipment. Firstly, they can be made aware of the various ways such things can help them. The government and NGOs can open free training centres to appraise them with this technology. Grandchildren can teach their grandparents about these gadgets. Too many features on mobile phones deter the elderly from using them. So, user-friendly models could be made especially for them. Finally, these gadgets could be made available to the elderly at subsidized rates.
To put it in a nutshell, I pen down saying that there is an unending list of how mobile phones and the internet could help the elderly but a little effort is required to make them techno-savvy.