Half of Argentines over the age of 75 admit that they hardly use the internet or technological devices

blunt. These were the results of a recent survey carried out by a technology company that showed –once again– the digital generation gap. The Avast Company polled to two hundred Argentines over 55 years of age. And the work found that just over half (55%) use the Internet on a regular basis. But 21% do it only occasionally and one in four older adults (25%) said they never use it. “Half of those surveyed are retired and, logically, the proportion of people who do not use it increases over the years: for example, 52% of those over 75 no longer use it frequently,” he told this newspaper. Javier Rincón, Regional Director of Avast. And the data compiled by INDEC confirm these figures. The particular thing is that this “crack” is one of those that can be easily closed, resorting to appropriate educational measures and policies.

“In recent years, the digital inclusion of older people has been growing, especially after the isolation associated with the pandemic,” he told PROFILE luciana slipakoff, psychologist specializing in gerontology. And he added: “But we have to do more to reduce this gap, because it is a phenomenon that is here to stay in everyday life and is essential for the quality of life, whether it is to celebrate a birthday by Zoom with emigrated relatives to send a prescription to the pharmacy or make a medical consultation by WhatsApp”.

According to Slipakoff –who is a professor at the UBA in the chair of Third Age and Old Age–, the problem to overcome this situation does not lie so much in the lack of courses for adults, which does exist. The central issue is how to teach them effectively so that their learning is really meaningful to them in their lives and needs.

For many older adults raised in the pre-digital age, the getting closer Technology is like learning a new language. “For them it is a difficult process and –sometimes– frustrating, which requires an effort on your part and also requires an instructor”, said the expert. And the truth is that many want to overcome this gap. For example, in the Avast survey “34% of respondents said that I would like help of friends or relatives to carry out online activities”, assured Rincón.

talks

For his part, Sebastián Fridman, psychogerontologist and coordinator of the Senior Citizens area at the AMIA Comprehensive Center, explained that sometimes “adults themselves consider that technology is not for them and prefer “face to face”. but it is special workshops, where they share with peers and trained coordinators, we are showing them how to use it to have a better quality of life. Even understanding these issues can help them to participate more and better in public conversation and family life.

“The thing is that today”, according to Slipakoff, “in the news, at the table and in all the next ones, terms that come from technology such as ‘link‘, ‘post‘either’instagram‘. If they don’t understand them, they’re left out of the conversation.”

Tips

For this psychology we must not forget that all learning involves a process of frustration and it takes time. And he recommends: “Those who learn must be able to touch the devices without fear, see that they don’t break, practice a lot, ask for help and be patient without getting frustrated.”

On the other hand, the facilitator must try to teach them the uses and applications that are most in line with the interests of each person. Maybe they are not interested in using Instagram, but they are interested in Facebook or making video calls. Others may prefer to use YouTube to listen to music. “Even sometimes, in the free technology workshops that AMIA offers, we have shown how to use the banking home or a payment app, so that older adults can continue to be self employed”, recorded Fridman.

On the other hand, many times the obstacles to using technology tools are not only in learning. “You may have, for example, a vision difficulty that makes it difficult for you to use the small screen of your cell phone or listen to audio from Wahtsapp. So a real integration could be teaching them other devices.”

Instead of how to use the smartphone, why not teach them to take advantage of a smart tv or to connect quality headphones? Finally, Slipakoff summarized that in order to achieve this age technological gap, it is necessary to think about the uniqueness of each need and find a meaning for it: “The key to success is that they can appropriate of technology”.

“Knowing how to use opens a world”

“I have been coming to these workshops for four years. In the pandemic I kept doing them for Zoom”, he tells PROFILE short Flora, workshop leader for the weekly AMIA meetings. “Why do I do them? Technology is useful to me. But also unknown. And without the workshop I had to ask my children who –sometimes– don’t have time or don’t have patience”.

Shorr says she often Googles things and words. And he uses it to translate. What is the most useful? “To do. For example, today we learned about the use of QR and what ‘hasthag’ means. And the best thing is that it makes me feel good, because I see that my neurons and my head are still fine.” Something similar with Jorge Iosovitch: ” With the teachers here we can evacuate any questions no problem. And we learned to use social networks, from Facebook to Instagram and also Whatsapp. The good thing about this is that it never ends, we always have new things to add and that are useful for daily life. Knowing how to use opens up a world for us”.