We all know Social Isolation is an especially large and important challenge of aging. In this series of discussions among older adults, we explore things like:
Can different living arrangements help?
How do these older adults like tools like Skype and Facetime, and how best can we teach these tools?
What is the root cause of social isolation in the case of various specific individuals?
Why is it hard to meet people and what can you do about it?
Are you looking for a way to setup video chats with your loved one who lives independently or in a facility? This article tells you how to do that, using the Echo Show, without requiring your loved one to do any of the “setting up”. New to This Topic? This is a Deep-dive … Read more
It's a pretty common scenario at present. Your elderly parent, who lives at home — or in a nice senior living facility — is under "lockdown" for the foreseeable future. You can't visit. They are not super tech-savvy and don't regularly use Facetime, or Skype, or Zoom. And you are wondering what you can do to … Read more
While staying at home for weeks or months on end is hard for everyone, older adults have some unique challenges. And as the enforced lockdown winds down eventually, those over 70 are likely to be the last to see a return to “normal” life. We created this page so members of the Tech-enhanced Life community … Read more
Now that we are all “sheltering in place”, finding ways to interact virtually with people from our homes has rocketed up people’s priority list. We have had quite a few emails now from people wanting to know the best way to have video calls with their family and friends. Here are some thoughts to help … Read more
Social Isolation and Loneliness have attracted lots of media attention recently due to the large negative impact that being lonely and lacking human interactions can have on quality of life. And this is seen as being especially problematic for older adults, although it is also prevalent among younger demographics. As an illustration of this … Read more
Perhaps it seems counterintuitive that an artificial intelligence(AI) might help combat loneliness and isolation. But as our Longevity Explorers evaluate the latest version of Alexa, paired with the Amazon Echo Show, which has an excellent video call capability, we are starting to see great potential for these products to do just that.
And while there are a variety of initiatives evaluating the potential of interactions between older adults and Alexa (Amazon’s artificial intelligence) as a way to reduce loneliness, we think the communication capabilities of the Echo Show may make possible deeper human to human interactions (with friends and family for example) as well.
Ever thought “I need to make some new friends: There should be an app for that”? A group of Longevity Explorers and design students brainstormed the features they would like to see in an “App to Make New Friends” at an intergenerational design workshop at the 2018 Stanford Centre on Longevity Design Challenge. … Read more
How do you avoid becoming isolated and lonely as you get older? Are there things you can do to help prevent this? Isolation and loneliness is a very real fear for many older adults. Many of us know of someone suffering from it, and it can be very sad. Recently, we asked our Longevity … Read more
“Hi, this is Lisa. I’m not sure I can take care of myself right now. Can you bring me some food?” I found that scary sounding message on my voicemail one Saturday morning. It started me on a journey to coordinate care for a close friend. I learned several things that I’ll share with you. I hope that if you are ever faced with a similar situation, my experience will help you.
In the last co-creation meeting one group focussed on the issues of seniors being isolated and lonely. This is one of the top problems for seniors. As we age we lose our spouse and our friends. We also lose the ability to drive and get around. This results in isolation and loneliness. Our group identified the following things.