Adapting to The Elderly

For my blog I decided to look at the elderly and the technology now and for the future. The article I read which you can find here Elderly Article focuses on the elderly and their adaptation to technology like smart phones, using a google search and tablets. The article goes on to pin-point some of the characteristics of the average elderly technology user. We have technology for our younger generations but what can we do for the elderly?  It is no joke with our current technology the elderly are like a fish out of water. Whether it is our parent or a grandparent it seems their generation  is far behind us in embracing the uses of smart phones and the internet. To make matters worse when the elderly use technology they require some sort of assistance or take ages to complete tasks that would take us (younger generation) half the time to do. There are a number of reasons why the elderly fall so far behind us when using technology. In the article they present health reasons into why the elderly aren't matched up for current technology and provide ways to help develop technology accessible for anyone.  The article also looks at a positive side of being an elderly individual. In the video inside the article the elderly are helping others from Brazil learn to speak fluent English through a Speaking Exchange "face-time" like program on the internet. This exchange provides meaningful interaction as well as time to learn and appreciate what life has in store for us.

The article went on describing some health deteriorations that affect the elderly in general such as cognition, attention, decision making, vision, hearing, and motor skills. Interesting statistic is that by 2030 19% of the people in the US will be considered elderly, the same percentage of those who own an iPhone today. Going into more detail on these health deteriorations adults develop I first am going to start with cognition. Cognition starts to go in adults in their short term and episodic memory making skills with technology tough due to different tasks being performed at the same time. Next is attention skills, adults attention skills actually improve while they take the time to thoroughly read through every little bit of information it becomes very time consuming. Another flaw is decision making and this is key when online with credit card information and other personal identifications. Older generations also seem to go with other's decisions such as a doctor then their own and that creates a treasure map for these adults to try to discover. Moving on to the biggest flaw in the growth of humans and that is the loss of hearing and vision. This can be problematic when we use such small devices with small text and weak audio noise decibels. From the age 40 the eye sight starts to harden making it difficult to read up close and small text as well as colors start to blend together. Hearing is next to go in an adult, hearing declines predictably and affects a huge number of adults. Last deterioration is motor skills, and this is the "will they every finish this task" mentality. When adults grow older they tend to lose some control over what they can do especially when it comes to a mouse and trying to click out of programs and ads.Trends have shown the elderly have take to some of these technologies such as the tablet and even embraced the internet and email over the years. Now that technology isn't just for the younger generations, we see more and more adults online, using email, and owning cell phones. Another reason why adults over 65 have trouble with technology is because of when they were born. I personally was born into the growth and popularity of the internet, smart phones and online interactions. I was exposed at a young age to technology and it became accessible at both home and at school, making it easier for me to figure out what is going on and how to go about it quickly and productively, a luxury the older generation didn't have. Some of it also has to do with our skills as youths, while we are developing skills as a person we create new forms of technology. On the other hand the elderly's skills are deteriorating and they focus on the technology they have become accustom to. Another thing that divides generations is the uses we get out of technology. Until recently, the youth and young adults have been on the forefront of technology and now we are gradually making them more accessible and  easier for anybody.

The article continued on and provided advice for creating technology for adults combatting the flaws mentioned above. Some of these tips include letting the user adjust the text size, provide sub-titles for audio, look into more of a touch screen rather than a mouse, avoiding small screens, not making assumptions: making the technology as easy as possible to use, provide reminders and alerts, don't be afraid of too much content and finally to avoid opinions or to highlight that these in fact are simply opinions not facts.

In conclusion, times are changing and technology isn't just for the young. A shift has emerged and technology is becoming painless and relatively easy to operate. After reading this article, I'm able to understand the challenges that adults face with current technology and I'm able to be more sympathetic to their problems whether it is taking forever or not being able to successfully use the technology because of the size of the font. We are making strides everyday trying to make everyday life a little bit simpler.