Who knew the pandemic situation would be so catastrophic that the different governments globally would declare multiple lockdowns in all their countries. The COVID-19 pandemic made us all realise the power digital technology holds. People started shopping online for groceries, and other essentials, started paying bills online, and entertaining themselves with Netflix, and so on.
Effects of the Lockdown
The loneliness due to the lockdown affected everyone physically and mentally. But the most affected were the 65 to 74 age group. But soon, most of the older adults started learning and engaging with technology to stay in touch with their loved ones, participate in some exercise classes and religious communities.
Many senior citizens have started adapting to technology. Hence the government and other industries are trying to find innovative and straightforward digital solutions to make the daily online work like paying off the bills, shopping for food and medicines and other such tasks easy for the elderly users to follow.
Research on Social Distancing
The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health did a study where they surveyed 1,429 people. From this, 84% (1198 participants) were above the age of 60. The researchers wanted to understand how the pandemic’s social distancing has affected different generations and categories.
Out of the total, more than 150 participants moved their religious gatherings online. At the same time, 91 participants said that their social meetings with their families and friends got changed into online meets and game nights.
In the United Kingdom, internet usage by the 65 to 74 age group increased from 52 % in 2011 to 83 % in 2019. Most likely, due to the current scenario, the percentage of users can be seen growing. In 2019, there were about 4 million people in the UK who have never used the internet. From this total, 94% were above 55 years old, 84% were over 65, and 62% were above 75.
Conclusion
The younger generation, which is tech-savvy, should try to teach the elders the basics of technology. The spread of technical knowledge like the use of various online payment applications or how-to video call someone will help in decreasing the technological generation gap hence assisting the world in getting digitalised faster.
