Internet access a must for facilities
Internet access should be mandatory in all aged care facilities, however only a handful of facilities offer Internet access to residents, according to a University of Melbourne education expert, Dr John Murnane.
“Internet access provides an important opportunity for mental stimulation, which is closely tied to older people’s health,” said Dr Murnane.
“It is also a liberating outlet for those confined to a single building on a day-to-day basis. Everyone living in retirement facilities deserves to experience these benefits.”
Dr Murnane’s research in a low-care hostel in Melbourne has shown that, while there are many challenges, older people can learn to use computers and access email, and derive huge benefits from doing so.
“The residents I work with are all over the age of 85. I’ve been working with them since 2007, and now many of them can use email by themselves. The oldest participant, who is 99, is currently learning to Skype, to keep in touch with relatives in France,” he said.
“Email is the most popular activity among our participants, with its ability to send photographs particularly valued. However, some participants are also developing an interest in researching family histories online, and the group has a growing Facebook presence.”
Dr Murnane disputed widely-held beliefs that residents of aged care facilities and other elderly people were too old to learn to use the Internet.
“The way we talk about the Internet, for example by referring to digital natives and immigrants, helps to build a culture of fear among the non-computer literate. We need to stop thinking about the internet as the preserve of the young; indeed, the way the world wide web enables us to explore, learn and communicate might have been especially designed for the elderly or disabled.”
Dr Murnane said it was likely aged care facilities would face increasing pressure to introduce the internet in the next five to 10 years, as a growing number of computer-literate residents moved in.
“Although making Internet access available can be costly and resource-intensive for aged care facilities, I believe the benefits certainly outweigh the costs. They shouldn’t have to wait for residents to demand Internet access. Current residents deserve access now,” he said.
Videoconferencing with family enriches lives of residents in Taiwan
Nursing home residents who used videoconferencing with Skype or MSN to keep in touch with family members felt it enriched their lives, according to a study in the Journal of Clinical Nursing.
Thirty-four residents from 10 nursing homes took part in the study. The 18 women and 16 men had an average age of 75.
All of them said the experience enriched their lives, just under two-thirds said it was the second-best option to family visiting and a third said it gave them a true picture of family life.
“A trained research assistant helped the residents speak to their spouse, child or grandchild,” explains co-author Professor Yun-Fang Tsai, chair of the School of Nursing at Chang Gung University in Taiwan.
At the end of the three-month study period, all the participants took part in in-depth interviews.
The average videoconferencing session lasted just under 12 minutes, 12% took place daily, 47% weekly, 23% monthly and 18% occasionally.
The residents were very positive about the experience. They said it gave them a chance to be part of family life, see relatives who had moved abroad and allay anxieties if relatives were unable to visit. Some of the residents felt slightly anxious or self-conscious about using the equipment as they were unfamiliar with computers and found it strange to see their family on a screen rather than in person.
Residents needed some time to get used to the programme, and had to have help to use the equipment, but the benefits were considerable and could easily be replicated in a wide range of residential care settings.
