Hi, it’s Ella and Mia here, and we are so excited to be your hosts for Great Stories, a podcast by Meals on Wheels SA. Hearing stories from the wonderful Meals on Wheels SA team and seeing the benefits this service provides in the community, led us to create a space where people can gain insight into the values and history behind our organisation. This is what this podcast is all about, sharing knowledge and inspirational stories by learning about the values of Meals on Wheels with all of you. Each month, we post two new episodes: one full length, and one shorter episode, which we call Bitesize. These are released on the 1st and 15th of every month. Let’s get into it!
Hi everyone, and welcome to our third Bitesize episode for this year! We hope that you had a good Easter Sunday yesterday, and that you enjoy the rest of your long weekend today! So, for this fortnightly episode, we wanted to discuss how to navigate technology as an older adult, and we hope that this episode is beneficial in some way and clears up some of the difficulties and misconceptions that people have about navigating modern technology.
As we age, it is very easy to become stuck in our ways and neglect the new advancements around us, and in modern society, technology plays a critical role in many factors of our lives, including our healthcare, banking and staying up to date with recent news. Technology has changed drastically over the past few decades since the beginning of the 21st century. According to the Australian Communications and Media Authority, 99% of the Australian public accessed the internet in the 6 months previous to 2020, this is up 9% from 90% in 2019. Social media usage has also greatly increased, with nearly three-quarters (72%) of Australian adults used a social networking app in the previous 6 months (up from 63% in 2019). Facebook, for example, went from less than 100 million users in 2008, to almost 2.5 billion users in 2018, and is currently the most used social media app.
It’s crazy to think that that many people use Facebook, when I don’t really see it as my most preferred social media app, I would more use Instagram or Snapchat.
Yeah, I think coming from definitely a younger perspective, um, Facebook isn’t really used that much. I think maybe a lot of people have it, but don’t really use it, like I have it, but I don’t think I have ever posted anything on there, and I font think a lot of people do. Like Instagram is definitely something that we use more, more actively. I mean, I don’t, but other people do.
Its crazy to think that it's 2.5 billion users, that’s like more than a quarter of our world population.
Yeah, and the people who don’t have access to, like, technology, and WIFI and things like that. And, its still used by so many people.
I think it’s good for the older generation thought, because its a good way to keep in touch with people who you might have lost their phone number or something, because you can easily find them again and just search up their name.
Yeah that’s true, that’s how I use it.
So, with these rapid changes in technology, it is understandable that many people are confused and struggling to use the internet and media to connect with others. Although it may seem a daunting idea to many, learning to use technology is not as hard as it seems and there are many resources which can be utilised to help further ones understanding. As many younger family members or friends are moving away and relying on technology to communicate with their family and friends, we know that being able to understand how to use this technology is very beneficial for social connection. It is also the way that a lot of older people access home care and support services, which is often difficult to navigate if you aren’t really sure, or don’t have any, I guess, training in how to use it. Various sites such as Skype, FaceTime and messenger allows one to video call all their loved ones rather than just texting or calling them, which is a little less personal. One can also meet new people through social media sites and can engage in public forums and discussion posts, which is also an intellectually stimulating factor which can help to keep you busy and engaged with society and topics you are passionate about, which is definitely a really important thing when talking about wellbeing. So, if you know that you would like to understand a bit more about technology and are confused about where to begin, the most important thing to do is to talk to someone about it. Reaching out to family members, friends, or your wider community will greatly support you in taking these steps.
Practicing how to use technology, such as how to log into an email account, or how to write and send an email with a family member is very beneficial in consolidating the information that you are learning. Even if the people that you reach out to are unable to directly help you, they could always get you in contact with local community centres that hold classes or workshops that guide people in using technology.
Technology also provides a means for entertainment, with multiple streaming services available, providing thousands of TV shows and movies. However, if you are someone who is more appealed by reading, by purchasing a kindle, you are able to have thousands of books with you on one device, rather than having to carry around multiple heavy books.
With the help of YouTube and other various apps, one is also able to maintain their fitness, with unlimited effective videos teaching and providing you with different workouts or ways to keep yourself healthy without exhorting yourself too much. Fitness content such as Pilates, yoga, barre classes, core exercises and many more are all available for free and require no obligation from you to return to the page or invest anything besides your time. There are also sites to help you keep your fitness and health goals, providing you with meal plans and methods to keep yourself motivated.
In order to uphold these diets and meal plans, you can also order food from your local supermarkets, saving you time and money from having to drive to the supermarket as well as removing the temptation of purchasing any items not listed/needed when walking through the aisles.
Furthermore, there are many apps and resources online which can be extremely useful in remembering medical appointments, reminding you when to take your medicine and can even detect if you have had a fall or if there is an emergency. Devices such as smart watches can also be extremely beneficial in notifying emergency contacts or emergency services if a serious event occurs such as a heart attack or a fall. Some of these apps include pill reminder pro, Medicare pill reminder and emergency plus, which will notify emergency services of your location when you activate it.
So as to alleviate the stress and difficulty some may face when using technology, by taking various steps to change features on your device, it can make life much easier. For example, by enlarging the text size, it reduces any chances of misunderstandings and mistakes made, as well as enabling voice recognition and commands which can text people for you as well as search up any information you need.
Technology provides multiple resources at the touch of a finger, including social, physical and intellectual activities. All in all, technology allows you to stay independent in your life, keeping your physical and mental health intact and empowering you to do many everyday activities that you may not be able to do if you have a disability or health impairments, such as a ordering groceries online. With the aid of different apps and tricks to help, learning to use technological devices such as computers and smart phones is not as hard as it seems.