Miguel Olden
Miguel is an octogenarian who loves to read and learn new technologies. However, his physical faculties are declining, dragging his legs on his learning journeys. He has hearing problems and some loss of vision. Sitting at the computer for hours also gives him lower back pain. He could benefit from a lot of technology help. His hearing could benefit from a digital hearing aid that can link to the TV and phones so that he can hear the clear digital sounds. He could use a lot of accessibility settings on the computer to enhance his experience. Most of all, a smart watch or fit device can monitor his activities and sleep to remind him to get up and walk frequently.
Pauline Golden
Pauline is a grandma with three happy grandkids. She loves to talk to them and make lots of delicious dishes and cookies. However, she does not get to do that often as her family lives far away. Lately she finds herself more forgetful, misplacing keys, or missing doctors appointments. She is feeling a bit lonely and down. Her family suggest that maybe they can meet online, but Pauline feels overwhelmed by technologies and needs help. With some help Pauline could learn how to use FaceTime, Zoom, or Skype to see and talk to her grandkids online. She could also meet with her friends to chat and even play online games. With a shared calendar her family can help her set up reminders for her doctors’ appointments, even medication refills. Ah, there is one more thing Pauline would love for sure – get Alexa to play her favorite music to sing along with or dance to!
James Modern
James is an outdoor enthusiast, a bird watcher and a former park ranger. Now he is retired but sure misses those times when he set foot in Yellowstone or the Great Smoky Mountains. He still loves to travel but his family is concerned about his safety and health when he travels alone. With some technology help James learned how to use digital maps on his cell to guide him in his exploration. The “FindMe” app gives his family peace of mind that they can locate him and see where he is. The virtual doctor app allows him to be in touch with his family doctor when he is on the road. Most of all, lately he found a nice hiker group on social media and made new friends. They shared so many fantastic photos of amazing outdoors that he has already made a list of next destinations for him.
These three hypothetical stories give you a glimpse of what technology can do to enrich a senior’s life. However, the reality is a lot of seniors are bystanders watching the technology evolving and passing them – they are left behind and are forgotten. Together we can change that. We would like to hear the difficulties seniors encounter when they try to apply technology to their daily life, whether to learn how to use smart TV controls or to hail Uber for a ride. We would like to teach you and learn technology together. Why do we do this? We know what we do now could potentially help us in the future. We are in this together!
