Keywords
seniors
tablets
bridge person
messenger services
social network
tablets
bridge person
messenger services
social network
Abstract
Current Situation
In contrast to younger generations, seniors hardly ever use smartphones or tablets for information acquisition, organization of their daily living activities, and communication.
Research questions
- How do you motivate senior citizens and their relatives to use tablets for daily arrangements and communication?
- What are the experiences of those involved in introducing this new technology?
Method
We present two cases of introducing tablet technology to senior women in our familiarly environment. The data were collected and evaluated three years after implementation through semi-standardized interviews with the users and the ‘bridging persons’ (in both cases a grandchild) who trained them.
Selected results
- A corresponding technical network infrastructure, even in less densely populated regions, is a key requirement.
- The tablets were initially handed over with scanned photos from the past and current photos from the kinship system in order to awaken interest.
- In both cases, grandchildren were active as ‘bridge persons’, who helped to solve problems arising from the first step into the technology.
- Social contacts with the grandchildren increased through the use of a messenger service and the exchange of photos and short messages.
- Change of communication platforms of the grandchildren e.g. from WhatsApp to Instagram reduce the original contact frequency and require awareness and extra external motivation to use the "old" system to ensure continuous communication/ inclusion.
- The seniors also found their favorite topics on the Internet, which led to regular use of the device and made it a familiar everyday object.
Keywords: seniors, tablets, ‘bridge person’, messenger services, social network