The fine folks at the Pew Internet and American Life Project marked a notable milestone in the history of electronic communications this past spring: “53% of American adults ages 65 and older use the internet or email. Though these adults are still less likely than all other age groups to use the internet, the latest […]
#PROAGING: AARP Explores Benefits & Challenges of ‘Technology For All’
With much fanfare, the first babyboomers moved into the official era of retirement last year as they celebrated 65 years of life. They were the first ripples of a ‘Silver Tsunami’ of Boomer retirees who will bring changes to entertainment, to Social Security, medical services, to retirement life. The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) […]
#ProAging: Spending Time With Grandparents This Holiday
Looking for a way to spend time with your (grand)parents this holiday season, whether you are seated in the same room or across the continent? The folks at DoSomething.org are launching a new program for this holiday season: ‘Grandparents Gone Wired‘. The program is designed to encourage (grand)children to spend time with their elder family […]
#ProAging: SM Savvy Encourages Cross-Generational Connection
With Thanksgiving a mere 36+ hours away (30 of which might be spent in a ticket line or sitting on a runway or hoping the traffic finally gets moving), we are all thinking about re-connecting to family and old friends. That we do so via social networking platforms has become the assumption among the Millennials […]
#ProAging: Bringing Ballots To Nursing Homes Via The iPad
When the people of Oregon needed to replace Congressional Representative David Wu this week, the state Board of Elections used the opportunity to develop means to get ballots to older citizens in nursing homes. The traditional means to do so were to send absentee ballots out, but such ballots waste a great deal of payer, […]
#ProAging: Guidance For Older Americans Looking For Work
The unemployment rate of 9.1% seems pretty bad psychologically, especially for Americans that can remember the myth of unemployment rates of 2-3% a decade or so ago. But the unemployment rate flattens out some really horrific numbers: For African-American men between 20-30, the rate is about 18%, for example. And all these numbers get somewhat […]
#ProAging: Touchscreen Ease Available For Those Who Don’t Want An iPad
The iPad has inspired many older Americans to expand not only their computing skills, but also their short-term memories and their social(-media) circles. Nevertheless, the iPad was not created with our oldest citizens in mind. The screen is not especially large, for example. The computer company Telikin in Chalfont, PA is developing a desktop machine […]
#ProAging: Study Shows Americans Optimistic and Unprepared For Heath In Retirement (Part 2 of 2)
Last Thursday we shared a report conducted by National Public Radio (NPR), who has been presenting the findings of their in-depth survey concerning how recent retirees and soon-to-be retirees (those over 50) view retirement. The report was conducted by NPR, the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. The takeaway of the survey shows that those […]