The Elderly & New Technology [Infographic]

30.08.2018 WELLNESS 0.0 0

A 63-year-old sits down in front of the computer at his local library. How do you think that this story will end? You are expecting a punchline, right? Something about how he used whiteout to delete words on the screen. Or maybe how he thought that the disk drive was a cupholder.

Without knowing anything about the man, you have already started expecting a funny punchline. And, who can blame you? Society is big on perpetuating stereotypes. One of the most commonly accepted stereotypes is that the elderly cannot use technology or the web.

Feel like challenging a stereotype? What if that man was Bill Gates? (And yes, he is that old.) Would you think the same jokes would apply? Of course not. Now, look at some of the more elderly people in your life.

Now, sure, they probably aren’t building a multi-billion-dollar software company. But how bad are they really when it comes to tech? And, what we are talking about is not when they first get it, but when they have learned more about it.

Seniors in the Digital Age

If you check out the infographic found below, you’ll see that the MedAlertHelp team has collected enough info to shed some light on this topic. The infographic paints a picture of seniors who actively use their tech and perform several tasks online on a daily basis.

Are they waiting in anticipation for Halo 6 to launch, so that they can play video games all day? Not really, but then how many fans of the game check the news every day? So, maybe the key to understanding seniors and tech is in understanding that they will use it if they have a good enough reason.

They do tend to try out the new tech at a slower rate. Once they get to know how to use it, though, there seems to be no stopping them. So, let’s rethink this negative stereotype when it comes to seniors and tech, and check the infographic below to see some real data about seniors and their online activities!