Teach Grandma Twitter
I’ve discussed the problems with long-term care facilities with my aging parents. I think we all agreed there are solutions. Just a few of our ideas were: allowing pets, having kids from local schools visit, providing gardens, teaching classes, and -as it mentions in this article - getting them connected to the Internet.
Hopefully this is a step in the right direction. What do you think?
Amplify’d from www.newswise.com
Many elderly adults are increasingly isolated and grapple with depression, loneliness and declines in physical health. The UAB Department of Sociology and Social Work will use a five-year, $1.9 million National Institute on Aging (NIA) grant to study the ability of computer use and social media networking to enhance the quality of life of elderly adults through online social connections and easier access to health information.
“Once older adults cross the digital divide, they can access health information much more easily using the Internet than they can go to the library or visit a health-care professional,”
UAB graduate students will train 300 senior adults at 15 Alabama assisted-living facilities to use the Internet, e-mail, Facebook and other social media networking sites. The residents also will learn about blogging, online groups and ways to evaluate online health information.Read more at www.newswise.com
Categories: social media, society
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I’ve always been a strong proponent of blogging as a tool for connecting the elderly and shut-ins. It’s also great tool for sharpening the mind and general brain health.
Well there you go. Teach elderly how to blog and blog about it. We absolutely fricking need to hear some of their stories before they kick the bucket, don’t you think?