As a follow-up to my last post on teaching, let’s fast-forward a few decades: from the youth to the “wise”. A couple days ago I had a long compelling conversation with Jim Moore and his son Graham about the elderly and technology that got me to thinking: how can we use technology to connect the un-connected elderly with those of us living a more digital lifestyle? Then I saw this post about the Nintendo Wii in nursing homes and it’s clear: technology offers oblique opportunities to engage the elderly.
Those of you who have known me for some time probably have heard stories about my beloved Great-Aunt Ednas (yes, I have two Great-Aunt Ednas). Great-Aunt Edna in Florida (as opposed to Great-Aunt Edna in Queens) is in her 90s but has astonishing mental acuity. She’s downright dangerous; God help you if you get into an argument with her. But she lives an increasingly limited life – my Great-Uncle Joe died a few years ago, and her ability to drive and get around town is diminishing. She doesn’t have any family in Florida, and she has mostly out-lived her friends. I don’t get down to see her much, but I call every few days. In short, she’s alone most of the time. [I have a brief and mildly depressing photo essay from my visit to her last year here, complete with photos of Uncle Joe's letters of commendation from the Department of Defense for his work on the "Flame Warfare Effort in Vietnam".]
Aunt Edna would love the internet – but the bar to engage online is a little too high. And a digital picture frame is not really engaging enough – a little too passive.
I loved my grandmother intensely, and when she was alive and having trouble leaving the house, I got her an Apple iSight so we could do digital video chats online. It worked surprisingly well – and it was pretty easy for her to figure out. But my grandmother was digitally a lot savvier than my Aunt Edna – she had taught herself email years ago – and my grandmother also had my parents across the street to help sort out any technical difficulties. Aunt Edna has never used a computer and has no one nearby to help if she runs into any kind of difficulty.
So how do I use technology to connect Aunt Edna to the wired world? I’m going down to Florida in a month for work, and I’m going to check in on Aunt Edna. I’m tempted to bring her an old laptop and order up internet for her through her digital cable service. But I’m also pretty sure that is not money well-spent; there are so many ways it could go wrong, and I’m just not there to help ease her into it, guide her into using a computer regularly.
I’m chewing on this issue, considering my – and Aunt Edna’s – options. Maybe I’ll get her a Wii. But I’d rather get her a means of connecting to the world, an outside line. At the end of the day, it’s still so complicated! It’s worth figuring out; thanks to the marvels of modern medicine, more and more people are living longer. Online community offers an incredible way to engage the elderly without the hassle -- and perils -- of leaving their homes. We've just got to make it a little easier.
