Tag Archives: Internet

Volunteers helping older people learn the internet!

October 21, 2012   Carers, internet, Older care

7:30am Sunday 21st October 2012 in News By Emily Roberts, Chief Reporter

OVERTON has been asked to take part in a project to provide information to elderly residents.

Hampshire County Council ran a pilot of the Village Agent project in 14 villages, and has now given a grant to continue and extend it across rural Hampshire during the next three years.

It works by recruiting volunteers to offer four-to-six hours of their time a week to help increase and improve the way older people find and benefit from, information and advice.

A representative from the project spoke to Overton Parish Council and said: “Elderly people don’t necessarily get on the compu-ter very much so when they need information they have difficulty finding it. It’s things like care facilities, or getting a blue badge. Sometimes they don’t even realise they exist.”

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How the digital divide is being tackled

October 18, 2012   Carers, internet

Digital exclusion is a social care issue, whether it’s ordering prescriptions, applying for benefits or simply talking to others. So what is being done to help more people get online?

Jessica Fuhl
Guardian Professional, Wednesday 17 October 2012 09.30 BST

 

Carlton Gaskin at one of Age UK’s Itea and biscuits event, aimed at getting more older people using technology.

In 2008, 84-year-old Margaret Rickson had never used a computer before, but within three weeks of picking up a laptop she became the first patient to ask for a repeat prescription online. After enrolling for a computer course at her local library in Cheshire, Rickson has become an active campaigner in the local community, promoting the benefits of online services.

This week is Get online week. Organised by the Online Centres Foundation, which provides a national network of UK online centres, the aim is to get some of the approximately eight million people in the UK who have never used the internet online to “help make their lives bigger and better”. Margaret Rickson is just the type of person whom the Online Centres Foundation would champion as an ambassador for the advantages of accessing digital services.

The benefits of getting online are even greater than ever. In April a new universal credit will be introduced replacing many current benefits – and the government wants 80% of applications for universal credit to be online by 2017. Those not online can lose out financially, by not being able to access goods that can be found cheaper than in shops, and socially, without contact with others though email and social networking sites.

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Why digital exclusion is a social care issue

October 16, 2012   Carers, disability, mental health, Older care

As our society becomes increasingly digitalised, figures reveal a large proportion of those not online have a disability or are elderly

 

A large proportion of those not online are elderly.

Next year the welfare system will undergo an overhaul as universal credit is introduced. The benefit, replacing six others, includes a new requirement to apply for benefits online. With millions of people having never used the internet, however, it raises the question of how those not online will manage.

Universal credit is just one example of how, as our society becomes increasingly digitalised, those who are not online are at risk of becoming excluded. And it’s not just a case of people opting not to be online.

This year there were 3.91 million disabled adults who had never used the internet, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. This is just under half of the 7.82 million adults who had never used the internet. Ian Lyons, from the Shaw Trust, which supports disabled and disadvantaged people live more independently, says many websites are not accessible for people with a disability.

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