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posted by mrpg on Saturday December 15 2018, @05:20AM   Printer-friendly
from the go-visit-them dept.

Phys.org:

[...] only 17% of their [elderly] clients currently access the internet. As Jack explains: "Family and friends often use technology to find out things for me when I am stuck. However, most of my friends do not have internet access. They did not use technology in their working lives, as they were either farmers or manual workers. They still just ring people up or ask their children or grandchildren to use technology for them."

Technology can help, as long as it focuses on helping older people with overcoming the concerns that hold them back from meeting people outside the house. Using the insights from the research, we developed an app that draws on open data about events and volunteering opportunities nearby.

Older people can create user profiles to set their preferences for events according to cost and location. They can then review the transport options and routes to the event on an age-friendly map which includes the location of bus stops and car parks as well as nearby toilets and benches. If they select an event they want to attend, it's recorded in a calendar. The app can also be accessed by family, friends or carers who can search and plan on their behalf. This allows for the app to also be beneficial to older adults that do not have internet access.

But, even with this support, it's striking how few listings of events and transport options were available for older people over the festive period. Without more efforts to remedy the crisis of loneliness and isolation in the elderly, the festive season may still be anything but a season of cheer for many.

If kids and grandkids can't go to grandma's house, an app can help grandma come to them?


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  • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday December 15 2018, @06:25AM (2 children)

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Saturday December 15 2018, @06:25AM (#774708) Homepage

    We should allow them all access to give them what will benefit society-at-large:

    A large tank of helium with a convenient nose cannula hose. And we start with all-access to residents of San Francisco and New York City.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 15 2018, @06:43AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 15 2018, @06:43AM (#774709)

      Get the FUCH off my lawn! Who are you, anyway? What? My Son? Oh OK, I forgot. Who the hell is that? Oh, you wife? (repeat for offspring, associates and transgendered Khardashians. )

    • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday December 15 2018, @05:13PM

      by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Saturday December 15 2018, @05:13PM (#774824) Journal

      I dunno, Eth, the helium-voice gag gets kind of old after a while. Though hearing dedushka sound like babushka is pretty funny the first few times :)

      --
      I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 15 2018, @07:10AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 15 2018, @07:10AM (#774710)

    And if they're not imprisoned in a nursing home, they should head to their neighborhood bar.
    Lots of social interaction there.

  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday December 15 2018, @08:30AM (1 child)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday December 15 2018, @08:30AM (#774713) Journal

    I was on shore duty, so maybe it's not a real "sea story". But, I had a bunch of civilian contractors working alongside military.

    One memorable lady we called "Norma Jean" - not her real name, but it stuck. Redheaded Scottish woman, married to a Navy chief. I think she was five years older than I - enough to make her on old woman when I was 25. J.D. Souther was on the radio several times a day, 'You're Only Lonely'. I walked in when Norma Jean was cutting up, giving someone hell over something. And, that song was playing on the radio right then. I shouted across the room, "Norma Jean, what's it like to be old and lonely?"

    That woman sputtered for a second or two, then shouted right back, "Runaway, I'll never be lonely, unlike you, you li''le worm! You'll be going back to sea soon, you can think of me then!" Yeah, that Scottish accent - no "t"'s in the word "little". Think I only ever saw her get more red in the face once or twice - she was wound up for the rest of the day.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quglprlSQ8k [youtube.com]

    That girl was really something - I almost admired her. The chief who captured that girl's heart is one lucky man. She's got to be 67 now, give or take a year, and she's probably still not old.

    • (Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Saturday December 15 2018, @07:18PM

      by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Saturday December 15 2018, @07:18PM (#774888) Homepage Journal

      Wow! Some accent. The use of a ' to represent a glottal stop is well-known, but I have no idea how to pronounce two of them in a row.

  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday December 15 2018, @12:46PM (2 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Saturday December 15 2018, @12:46PM (#774750) Journal

    What happened to giving them fake social interaction?

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Saturday December 15 2018, @05:33PM

      by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Saturday December 15 2018, @05:33PM (#774837) Journal

      It's not ready yet. It *is* being worked on heavily, but when it gets here you may need to speak Japanese to take advantage of it.

      --
      Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday December 15 2018, @06:38PM

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday December 15 2018, @06:38PM (#774864) Journal

      Either the Brownies or the Cub Scouts will come sing Christmas carols for them. That should be enough social interaction, shouldn't it?

      Sidenote: My stepmom and stepdad were part of a little Christian band. All the members were members of the same congregation, they all liked to play music, so they just got together and started playing and singing. They would do a couple hymns now and then, but it was mostly folk music, and country music. They got comfortable with each other, then asked, "Where do we perform? This ain't Rock & Roll, and we ain't the Beatles." So, every other weekend, they would go to one nursing home or another, and sing to the old folk. On a rare occassion, I would get dragged along. I'm no singer, and the only thing I can play is a radio, but I got dragged anyway. It wasn't bad - but I really did have more pressing things to do, like chasing after girls.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 15 2018, @07:01PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 15 2018, @07:01PM (#774880)

    Is to stop making a big fsckin' deal over it.

    The point of it was to do something about Cabin Fever in the middle of winter in Europe

    On Dec 26, the plug gets pulled, and people get ready to drink on New Years

    THAT is the most lonely time of the year.

    Why don't we just spread out caring about people beyond the last couple months of the year?

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 15 2018, @08:08PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 15 2018, @08:08PM (#774912)

      Why don't we just spread out caring about people beyond the last couple months of the year?

      Because no one really cares. They just think they're supposed to, so the last couple months of the year lets them pretend that they do, so they can ignore everyone the rest of the year without thinking about it.

      Second tier effects of the false caring idea: it permits reporters to file the same stories each year about the issue, thus freeing up more time for drinking; it allows a few more grants to be issued for "studies"; it employs social service people to make the welfare rolls look a bit smaller. All to keep the money flowing. But actual caring? Only a fairy tale we tell each other while we wait for the grave.

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