I serve on a couple of boards and committees; we work on non-profit fundraisers and benevolent associations. One of our efforts was related to procuring vendors for a fundraising craft fair. Another was a membership drive for a cultural heritage association. My job for both efforts involved technology: to wrangle social media and website access to appeal to a broader audience.
What does that have to do with long-term care and the aging population? I kept hearing from my colleagues that appeals on social media and websites wouldn’t help our efforts; some of our audience, people over 60, don’t use technology.
We have heard repeatedly that older people don’t do email, don’t do social media, don’t have a computer, and as a result don’t understand their options for healthcare. Every time someone asks me for a recommendation for Skilled Nursing care, I refer them to Nursing Home Compare, which only a few are aware of. Yet a study conducted by BMC Public Health found that in a population of older Chinese adults, internet use was positively associated with self-rated health, and the absence of the internet negatively affected mental health.
“Internet use promotes the health of older adults by facilitating access to health information, healthy lifestyles, and enhancing social interaction. And the impacts are heterogeneous at the individual and regional levels.”
Our excellent Activities Departments give our residents access to current events. But they’re on paper. They organize movie nights, but the movies aren’t individualized and are frequently infantilized. I’ve seen residents walk out on movie night when they discovered that they were showing an old Disney flick. They are adults, and most have the capacity to use streaming services to access movies that adults like. Let them.
It is said that older adults are often reluctant to try new technology. However, once initiated, they adopt and adapt with increasing frequency. Approximately 87% of seniors over 65 are online. They use email, they pay bills, they use social media, and they search for health information.
Not only does learning this new skill improve their cognitive abilities, it gives them confidence and gives them contact with the world outside of their communities. There has even been a link between lack of internet access and COVID deaths, postulating that those without access were unable to look up health information, unable to find testing, and unable to schedule vaccines.
Our residents would benefit from more computer access in our buildings. As far back as 2007, the NIH published a study that showed that computer access for long-term care residents facilitated direct communication with family and provided mental exercise, education and enjoyment.
Giving internet access to the geriatric population before a catastrophic health-related event is frequently beneficial to their future health. Giving access to technology to the already-affected population with acute or chronic disease can ease the negative effects, give information about their conditions, and improve their confidence and cognition. My 91-year-old mother checks her email every day. She joins meetings on Zoom and watches church services on YouTube when the weather is bad.
Our craft fair was a tremendous success, and people are still contacting me on social media to ask when we’ll do it again. Our membership drive, strictly on the basis of email, social media, and the website, increased by 15% in the first two days. I heard that one member renewed from her LTC facility’s computer center.
While not without overhead cost, the ability for our clients to connect, engage and communicate with technology is an investment we can’t afford to lose. Hotels have “Business Centers.” Let’s start “Engagement Centers.”
Jean Wendland Porter, PT, CCI, WCC, CKTP, CDP, TWD, is the regional director of therapy operations at Diversified Health Partners in Ohio.
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