Older people, technology and community

Older people, technology and communitythe potential of technology to help older people renew or develop

social contacts and to actively engage in their communities

A great many individuals have madeinvaluable contributions to this project,most particularly the members of thesteering group who guided this project overthe course of the last eight months. Theirknowledge, experience and patience withthe process have been greatly appreciated.

The project was framed by a seminar heldlast June at the RSA. The individuals whoparticipated in that discussion helped us tolay firm foundations for the work goingforward. Special thanks to Simon Walkerand Debbie Wosskow of MaidthornPartners for facilitating the event and foradvising on project design on a pro bonobasis. Many thanks are also due to thededicated staff team at Independent Agefor their contribution: Claire Nurdenprovided the secretariat to the steering

group and undertook some of the research,Caroline Moye organised publication andLindsay Ellis designed this report. Manythanks also to the small group ofindependent consultants who supportedthe project. Margaret Bolton providedexcellent project management and analysisand wrote the report. Great thanks are alsodue to Bridget Pettitt who led the research,and Marta Maretich for editorial work andproduction of the summary.

Finally, without the kind support of theCalouste Gulbenkian Foundation, UK, thisproject would not have been possible. Wegreatly appreciate the advice, guidance andongoing support of Andrew Barnett,Annabel Knight and Luis Jeronimo.

Acknowledgements

The project culminating in the publicationof this report was seeded in aserendipitous conversation we had sometime ago about the part social networkingplays in young people’s lives and whatpotential technology might have to enableolder people to engage actively incommunity life.

At the time of this initial conversationrelatively little attention was being paid tothe issue of older people and access toand use of new technology. Since westarted the project the wind has changed.The Digital Britain report has beenpublished, underlining the salience of theissue, and significant funding has beenmade available for digital participationinitiatives; one priority for this spending isolder people. Our steering group,particularly Damian Radcliffe fromOFCOM, has provided us with invaluablebriefing on new initiatives concerningdigital participation. The sheer numberand scale made us wonder sometimes ifwe would ever get on top of the topic! Italso underlined a clear problem – no oneorganisation seemed to have responsibilityto provide the glue on this importantissue, to pull together evidence andlearning from the many programmes inthis field. The myriad initiatives made ithard even for those concentrating theirprofessional time on this area to have aclear picture of the lie of the land, letalone ensure that effective schemes werescaled up into real and sustainableinterventions. For this reason we welcomethe setting up of the Digital ParticipationConsortium, a consortium oforganisations from across sectorscommitted to achieving digitalparticipation. Led by OFCOM the

Consortium aims to achieve greaterimpact through better coordination andgreater collaboration.

The scale of activity also made us wonderwhat role we could play. We needed toconstantly remind ourselves that ourinterest is not simply access totechnology but more specifically howtechnology can foster improved socialinteraction, engaging older people in theircommunities and promoting high qualityface-to-face contact. Our work is focusedon digital participation for a purpose andthe purpose links closely to the belief thatthe scope to contribute, participate andengage is an essential ingredient of olderpeople’s wellbeing.

We are mindful that there are many facetsto wellbeing. The New EconomicsFoundation (nef) have identified five waysto safeguard wellbeing in everyday life:connect, be active, take notice, keeplearning and give. We believe that accessto the internet and digital technologiesthrough relevant supported services canindeed enhance all these aspects of life forolder people – so long as technology isseen as the means to an end, not the endin itself.

The steering group wrestled with the issueof language, constantly reminding us of theimportance of positive framing of the issue.Older people are not all vulnerable and inneed of help: many, particularly theyounger old, are active and engaged ingiving back to society – by volunteering orlooking after younger relatives, for example.They are the same as you and I and, likesociety as a whole, they are heterogeneous.To overgeneralise is necessarily to do olderpeople a disservice. Social isolation and

Preface

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loneliness are real issues that everyone canrelate to and feel empathy with. Just asuniversally, social networks and socialengagement are positive features of ahealthy society. So we have battled withlanguage, favouring the terminology ofengagement and social contact over thatof exclusion and loneliness.

The potential scale of this project was vastand we have necessarily had to focus on asmall number of issues. This means that,reluctantly, we had to set aside someissues that we recognise to be cruciallyimportant, particularly the issues of age-appropriate design and the need for morecommercial services to be directed to thisunderserved market.

All of the experts we involved in thisproject were clear on one thing: the realand urgent need is not for more kit.Rather, it’s for more appropriate servicesthat reflect older people’s interests andrespond to their needs, includingsustained, community-based training andsupport. The problem has a human face.It’s not solely about hard engineering,chips and wiring. Our recommendationsreflect this.

Our purpose in working with the steeringgroup has been to ensure the widestpossible platform to take this pressingissue forward. We are pleased that thiswork will be picked up by a coalition, dueto be established in the coming months.Through awareness-raising, campaigningand stimulating the creation of effectiveservices and appropriate tools, includingbut not exclusively concerned withtechnology, this coalition will seek toenable older people to renew or developsocial contacts and actively engage intheir communities in order to feel, and be,better connected.

Janet MorrisonChief Executive, Independent Age

Andrew BarnettDirector, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation,UK

Preface

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1. Executive Summary

2. Introduction

3. The potential of technology to support older people’sengagement in society

4. Older people’s access to anduse of technology

5. An appropriate response

6. Conclusions andrecommendations

Annex 1 Notable examples ofpractice

Annex 2 Interviewees andseminar participants

Annex 3 Steering groupmembers

Contents

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Social isolation and the feelings ofloneliness it leads to are commonproblems for older people living in theUnited Kingdom today. Recent researchdocuments a worrying trend that manywho work with older people haveobserved for themselves:

• Fear of being alone is a major source ofanxiety as people grow old.

• Some older people go for days withoutseeing another person; many die alone.

• 16% of older people in deprived innercity areas suffer severe loneliness.

• Certain ethnic groups are particularlyvulnerable.

• Isolation and loneliness can damageboth mental and physical health inolder people.

The immediate causes of social isolationare varied and depend on individualcircumstances. A scattered family, thedeath of a partner, a chronic healthcondition, diminishing sight or hearing areonly some of the factors that can leaveolder people feeling alone. Whatever thecauses, social isolation and loneliness taketheir toll on the quality of life of asignificant proportion of our population.The core questions that motivated thisresearch are: How can technology helpprevent and alleviate isolation andloneliness amongst older people? What isits potential for enabling them to developand retain social connections and activelyparticipate in their communities, both keycomponents of happiness and wellbeing?

Technology, older people andsocial inclusion

This report was commissioned fromIndependent Age by the CalousteGulbenkian Foundation, UK. To developthe work, Independent Age set up asteering group comprised of telecomscompanies, voluntary organisations andacademic institutions all with expertise tobring to the issue of how digitalcommunications technology can enableolder people to develop and maintainsocial networks and actively engage intheir communities.

In the last decade, an array oftechnologies has changed the way manyof us interact. Internet communicationsystems such as email and socialnetworking sites like Facebook and Twitterhave revolutionised personalcommunication for younger people.Government service provision is beingtransformed by technology, too, and manypeople are enjoying faster, easier accessto public services through digital means.Not the over-65s, though: studies showthat they have been largely excluded fromthis revolution and the benefits it brings.A startling 70% report that they havenever used the internet.

At the time research for this reportcommenced, little attention was beingpaid to the issue of older people andaccess to technology. Today, things aredifferent. The Digital Britain report in2008 highlighted the issue and spurredthe Government to devote significantfunding to digital participation initiatives,many with an emphasis on older people.Yet among a panoply of new initiatives,there has been little attempt to connect


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the use of technology by older peoplewith potential social benefits such asreduced isolation and increased socialparticipation – until now. This reportdemonstrates that technology is notmerely an end in itself, but can be ameans to enable older people to renewand develop social contacts and engageactively in their communities. It canprovide opportunities to:

• participate in meaningful work andother activities (whether paid or on avolunteer basis);

• interact in new ways with family andfriends;

• learn, develop skills and gatherexperience;

• share learning, skills and experiencewith others.

Addressing barriers to technologyadoption

To develop a sense of how this might beachieved, we began by looking at olderpeople’s attitudes toward technology. Weknow that a large proportion of olderpeople do not use communicationstechnology, the question is, why not? Someof the important barriers to older peopleadopting digital technologies include:

• Lack of home access to the internet:Only half of people aged 60-69 haveaccess to the internet at home, but thisfalls to 17% among the over-70s. Adultsover the age of 60 are also less likelythan younger adults to get internetaccess in the next year. The dominantreason for not having or seeking accessis that older people don’t feel theyneed it.

• Low awareness of what technology canoffer: 10% of people aged 60-69 haveaccess to the internet but don’t use it.They feel that digital technology has norelevance for them and that they wouldgain nothing by using it.

• Inadequate marketing: Technologymarketing is generally aimed at theyoung, promoting gimmicky aspects ofproducts that don’t interest olderpeople. Or, marketing is aimed at thefrail elderly, a group with which mostolder people don’t identify.

• Inappropriate design: Digital equipmentis designed to attract young buyers whohave grown up using technology. Smallbuttons, fiddly controls andunnecessarily complicated interfacescan all be barriers to older, or lessadept, users. The appearance of‘special’ equipment is also a deterrentfor some older people who don’t wantugly objects cluttering up their homes.

• Anxieties: Older people tend to havecertain fears regarding technology. Oneof them is cost: they assume, forexample, that computers cost morethan they actually do. Another isbreaking equipment or doing somethingwrong. A third is security: althoughmost older people don’t know enoughabout technology to be familiar withcommon security problems, many knowenough to be concerned.

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What works

These barriers prevent many older peoplefrom using communications technologyfor social interaction. Many older peoplebelieve they don’t understand technology,aren’t equipped to deal with it, and don’treally need to: technology is for theyoung, not for them. Yet in spite of thebarriers, our research makes it clear thatolder people are fully capable of learningto use technology and that they areinterested in doing so provided they aremade aware of its benefits and receiveadequate training and support. But whatdoes this mean in practice?

Benefits: If we want to enable olderpeople technologically, we need to helpthem appreciate what technology can dofor them. This means tuning in to theirinterests, attitudes and expectations anddesigning programmes around theirneeds. The belief that technology is agood thing per se doesn’t necessarily existamongst older people. They need to haveits value demonstrated in concrete terms,with direct application to their lives – forexample, enabling them to connect tofamily members living on the other side ofthe globe using Skype.

Training and support: Training and ongoingsupport help older people overcome someof their anxieties, build skills and developtheir confidence in using technology. Theview of most experts is that we have all thekit that is needed. What we lack is thehuman element: the people andprogrammes to deliver the necessarytraining and support.

Good practice

As an initial step, we sought to identifyexisting projects within our sphere ofinterest. We found that provision waspatchy and that projects were often short-lived. In general, projects focused ongetting older people online as opposed toproviding them with the ongoing supportthey need to stay online. There were veryfew examples of projects with a specificfocus on using technology to addresssocial isolation. However, we identifiedfour examples of sustained good practice– Digital Unite, CareOnLine, INtouchkirklees and Angus Gold (the latter threeare all public sector projects althoughAngus Gold started life in the voluntarysector). These projects have each begunto apply technology creatively to enableolder people to make connections, buildsocial networks and actively engage intheir communities. They have some otherkey features in common that furtheraddress the issues identified in theprevious section:

• Good design, including appropriateinterfaces for the target group;

• Training focused on how older peoplewant to use technology;

• Ongoing support from a trusted source;

• Low costs for participants.


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Recommendations for thevoluntary and public sectors

Our research concludes thatcommunications technologies can helpprevent and alleviate social isolation andloneliness among older people. To realisethe potential inherent in thesetechnologies, we need to develop andsupport intermediaries who can empowerolder people by educating them aboutcommunications technology and thebenefits it can bring. With the rightsupport, older people will have the abilityto become part of the solution, forexample, by participating in peer-to-peersupport schemes.

In our view more voluntary organisationscould act as intermediaries, encouragingand supporting older people in their useof communications technology. Wetherefore propose to:

• launch a voluntary sector pledge which commits charities and othervoluntary organisations to run eventson Silver Surfers’ Day and throughoutthe year, reaching out to older staff andservice users, helping them to get andstay online;

• develop a scheme called Learn to Helpwhich will provide older people withone-to-one support in learning abouttechnology and enable older people toprovide peer support and network.

The public sector could do more, too.Local authorities and primary care trustsare already making significant investmentin technology. But so far few have madethe connection between access totechnology and the broader issue ofhelping older people stay healthy, happy,independent and engaged in society. Toencourage the public sector to make themost of the potential for alleviating socialisolation offered by technology, wepropose to:

• work with bodies like IDeA, theAssociation of Directors of SocialServices and the Local GovernmentAssociation to raise awareness of theissue and to promote the good practicethat some public sector organisationshave already developed (see the goodpractice examples above);

• commission the development of a ‘plug-in’ (a piece of software that addsfunctionality) for Looking Local, thepublic sector local digital informationservice. This plug-in would enable localpublic sector organisations to offer olderpeople online opportunities for socialnetworking around common interests,volunteering and community service.

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What we often discuss in terms of newtechnology isn’t really new technologyanymore. For example the telephone is about100 years old, TV about 80 and thecomputer 30, and we’ve been doing videoconferencing for 30 years. Kevin Carey, Humanity

This report examines the hypothesis thattechnology can enable older people torenew or develop social contacts andactively engage in their communities. It canhelp prevent older people from becomingsocially isolated and lonely because of lifechanges including retirement, bereavement,a deterioration in health. And it can helpthose who are socially isolated escape theirsituation. This hypothesis seems areasonable one. We live in an age in whichtechnology offers quick and relatively cheapcontact with colleagues, friends andrelatives across the globe. A proportion ofus are highly networked, using technologyto supplement and maintain periodic directcontact with a large number of individualswith whom we have something in common,such as work, hobbies or commonexperiences. This report concludes thattechnology does offer solutions to olderpeople. It explores the barriers to their useof technology and makes recommendationsabout how best to develop work on thistheme in the future.

A review of government policy documentsconcerned with ageing and older peoplesuggests considerable interest inpromoting older people’s participation insociety. These documents also containpassing references to reducing the socialisolation of older people in thecommunity. An objective is to end theperception of older people as dependent;ensure that longer life is healthy and

fulfilling; and that older people are fullparticipants in society.1 There is alsoconcern to promote social inclusion, whilea lack of social contact and engagement isacknowledged to be one dimension ofexclusion. Government also recognisesthat social exclusion, isolation andloneliness contribute to the incidence ofmental illness, particularly depression.2

However, despite this, very little work isundertaken which is preventive and whichaddresses the need for social contact andsocial engagement amongst older people.

The majority of public sector investmentin technology to support older peopletakes the form of investment in telecare.3

According to the Department of Health,telecare includes ‘equipment provided tosupport the individual in their home andtailored to meet their needs’ and mayinclude anything from a ‘basic communityalarm service’ to ‘detectors and monitorssuch as motion or falls or fire and gas thattrigger a warning to a response centre.’Experts suggest that while telecareequipment (some of which enables internetaccess) and support services (telephoneresponse centres) could potentially providemechanisms to help older people renew ordevelop social contacts and to activelyengage in their communities, this potentialis rarely exploited.4

There are about 12.5 million people in theUK who do not currently have access tothe internet.5 The government is seeking toimprove access by investing in a range ofdigital participation initiatives with theintention of reducing this 12.5 million by60% by 2014.6, 7 These initiatives includethe Race Online 2012 campaign that isasking organisations of all types and sizesto help inspire and educate their

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2. Introduction

employees, customers and communities touse the internet. A priority for governmentinvestment is improving the access of olderpeople and people with disabilities.However, our question about suchinitiatives is: digital participation to whatend? More specifically: has sufficientthought been given to how digitalparticipation can address what is startingto be recognised as one of the biggestthreats to older people’s health andwellbeing, a lack of meaningful socialcontact and social engagement?

A major concern about the majority of workon the theme of digital participation is thatit is not sufficiently focused on addressingsocial issues. Access to technology is not anend in itself; there should be more focus onwhat it can enable individuals and groups todo for themselves and others. As onemember of our steering group said:

The problem with talking about technology isthat it focuses minds on kit, rather thanpurpose, outcomes, services and applicationssuch as the way smart and inventive use ofcommunications, information or knowledge canmake new, really important things possible.Kevin Johnson, Cisco

We are interested in consideringtechnology as a means to enable olderpeople to:

• participate in meaningful work and otheractivities (paid and unpaid, enablingsociety to benefit from their energy andexperience);

• interact in new ways with family andfriends;

• learn and develop skills and experienceand share that learning and experiencewith others.

We conclude in this report that there arerelatively few projects that use technologyto help older people renew or developsocial contacts and actively engage in theircommunities (voluntary sector projectsproviding telephone befriending aside).8

Those projects that do exist are generallysmall-scale and many tend to be short-lived.

Nevertheless, some organisations havebeen delivering sustained work thatdirectly contributes to our agenda underthe heading of digital participation.Notable examples include Digital Uniteand UK online centres. Both have as theirmission getting older and disadvantagedpeople online and have been working tothis end for a number of years. A newerorganisation also worthy of note is DigitalOutreach which helps local voluntaryorganisations to support older, disabledand other potentially vulnerable people toadopt digital technologies.

Other important examples includeCareOnLine, INtouch kirklees and AngusGold, digital participation projects run bypublic sector agencies, all with a particularfocus on addressing social isolation.These projects are notable because theyplace a particular emphasis not only ongetting older people online but onsupporting their ongoing engagementwith technology – a theme that needs tobe given much more attention. (Moreinformation about these organisations orprojects can be found in Annex 1.)

This report has been developed byIndependent Age with funding from theCalouste Gulbenkian Foundation, UK. Ithas been informed by a literature reviewand telephone interviews with 15 expertsidentified in a stakeholder mapping

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exercise and a seminar at which an interimpaper was discussed (see Annex 2 for alist of interviewees and seminarparticipants). The recommendationscontained in this report have beendeveloped by a steering group comprisingindividuals with relevant expertise from across the public,private and voluntary sectors (see Annex3 for membership). Independent Age andthe Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, UKare now establishing a new consortium oforganisations that is seeking to help olderpeople develop social networks andactively engage in their communities. Theintention is that this coalition will refine,develop and follow through byimplementing the recommendationscontained in this report.

An issue the steering group has debated isthe definitional issue of what we mean byolder people. In this instance we havedecided to focus on the over-65s althoughsome of the statistics and the projects thatwe mention also cover the younger old,namely the over-50s. We are also keenlyaware that older people are not ahomogenous group. There is a greatdifference between a 65-year-old, who isstill in work and actively engaged inlearning about technological developmentsand a person over 80, who never used acomputer during their working life and mayregard themselves as too old to start now.

Some challenge the importance of olderpeople’s access to and use of technologybecause, they suggest, as youngergenerations, more familiar with technologyretire, the problem will disappear. However,there will continue to be older people whohave had little access to technology throughwork, the place where many people learn

their skills, as well as those who lose theirskills or confidence when no longer working.There will also be older people who begin tofind it difficult to use technology as they agebecause of poor vision, poor dexterity, poorhearing, and/or cognitive problemsassociated with ageing and who requireassistance to stay connected. We also havethe current problem to address: the olderold (those over 80) are most likely to needthe social support technology couldfacilitate since they are more likely to haveoutlived spouses and friends.

The remainder of this report contains thefour following sections:

Section 2: The potential of technology tosupport older people’s engagement in society. This section covers theevidence about social isolation andloneliness among older people andexplores whether technology might offerpart of the solution to addressing it.

Section 3: Older people’s access to anduse of technology. This sectionsummarises the evidence about olderpeople’s access to and use of technologyand identifies the barriers to greater usage.

Section 4: An appropriate response. Thissection considers what sort of provision isneeded to encourage and support olderpeople in their use of technology andhighlights notable projects from which wecan derive useful lessons for future workin this field.

Section 5: Conclusions andrecommendations. This sectionsummarises our conclusions and contain asmall number of practicalrecommendations about how work on thetheme might best be developed.

2. Introduction

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3. The potential of technology to supportolder people’s engagement in society

This section considers the evidence aboutsocial isolation and loneliness amongstolder people and explores whethertechnology might offer part of thesolution to addressing it.

Defining the problem: socialisolation and loneliness amongolder people

As the population ages and as more peopleare living alone, social isolation amongstolder people is emerging as one of the majorissues facing the industrialised world becauseof the adverse impact it can have on healthand wellbeing.Dr. Robyn Findlay, Australasian Centre onAgeing, University of Queensland9

Social isolation, a lack of contact withfriends and family and other loosernetworks of acquaintances, is a major issuefor significant numbers of older people.The charity WRVS identified that 8% ofthe people it works with see no one eachday, while 72% see only two people a dayand 32 older people a day die alone athome.10 Fear of being alone is a majorsource of anxiety as people grow old.11

Social isolation is objectively defined as alack of social contact; loneliness can bethe result. Loneliness is subjective; theindividual feels the lack of social contact.Research suggests that the influentialfactor is not the number of relationshipsbut their quality.12 The result is thathousebound older people with a carervisiting three times a day for 15 minutesmay continue to feel lonely because theymiss the contact that they had in the pastwith friends and family. Research showsthat ‘severe loneliness’ (people saying

that they are always or often lonely)affects about 7% of the older population,showing little change over the past fivedecades.13 Since stigma attaches toadmitting loneliness, it seems likely thatthis is an underestimate of the extent ofsevere loneliness amongst older people.For some older people loneliness mayhave been a continuous experience,reflecting lifelong patterns of behaviour,others experience ‘old age onset’, whichmay be a response to losses that occurlater in life such as bereavement ordeclining health.14

There are a multitude of reasons whypeople become increasingly isolated inlater life. Many older people have to makethe transition to living alone because theyare widowed and/or children scatter.Health factors also play a part: chronicillness and/or mobility problems mayconfine older people to their homes morethan they would like (6% of older peopleleave their home once a week or less);15

while sensory impairments or mobilityproblems may make older people self-conscious and less inclined to socialise.Another factor is that, as people get older,the deaths of those close to them maymean that they lack the sort of confidingrelationships they had with people in thepast. For some the lack of materialresources and poor environment (forexample living in an area with inadequateamenities and services and fearing goingout) may also have an impact.

Older people are heterogeneous andsome groups are likely to be more at riskof loneliness than others, for example,those over 80 who live alone, particularlymen.16 Older people living in urban areas

are also at greater risk than those living inthe country; stronger support networkstend to mean lower levels of reportedloneliness in rural areas. Some 16% ofolder people in deprived inner citiesexperience severe loneliness, with certainethnic groups, such as Pakistanis andSomalis being particularly affected.17

Reports by Age Concern and Help theAged have defined social exclusion as‘feeling detached from society, trapped athome, cut off from services, lonely andisolated, and struggling to cope.’18 Thereis a clear relationship between socialexclusion and loneliness. For example, intheir analysis of severely excluded olderpeople, Age Concern identified that 43%of the severely excluded aged 50-64group, 42% of the 65-79 age group, and37% of the 80-plus group felt lonely,compared to about 9% of the non-excluded groups.19

There is also a clear link between socialexclusion and digital exclusion. The OxfordInternet Institute found that those mostdeprived socially are also most likely to lackaccess to digital resources such as theinternet. Three out of four of those ‘broadly’socially excluded lack a meaningfulengagement with the internet. In addition tothis, those deeply socially excluded, with nomeaningful internet engagement, accountfor 10% of the total UK population.20

There is increasing recognition that socialisolation and the loneliness it causes canadversely affect older peoples long-termhealth, mental and physical. Depressionparticularly is a problem. It affects one-fifthof older people, two-fifths of those living incare homes, and is a significant problemamongst older caregivers, particularly

those caring for people with dementia.21

Social isolation, resulting in loneliness,among older people is therefore a major issue. Yet it has so far receivedrelatively little attention and the potential oftechnology to help in addressing it has beenboth underexplored and underexploited.

Technology: a part of thesolution?

Some current technology trends are bothrelevant and exciting, for example theinteroperability between different systems, andthe high-speed, always-on connectivity that’senabling increasingly easy, effective andefficient ways to communicate andcollaborate. The explosion that’s happening invideo-based approaches – helping people tointeract visually – is one example.Kevin Johnson, Cisco

Some are sceptical about whethertechnology can reduce social isolation orwhether it actually reinforces it. There isconcern, for example, that public sectorefforts to deploy technology in social carewill result in older people feeling moreisolated as face-to-face contact isreplaced by remote monitoring systems.For example, a small-scale evaluation byone local authority provider of telecareshowed that a very small proportion ofolder users, less than 4%, reported beingmore lonely after receiving telecare.Tunstall Healthcare Group, a privatesector leader in the provision of telecare,speculates that this may be in partbecause some friends and relatives,reassured by the installation of thesystem, became less engaged.22

Others question whether technology iseroding community links and reducing

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social capital.23, 24 Some research studieschallenge this view, concluding that use ofemail chatrooms and noticeboards inparticular communities results in strongerties between community members offline.25

Our view is that technology, if deployed inthe right way, as a supplement to and anenabler of direct contact, can help olderpeople to maintain and develop socialsupport networks. Some aspects oftechnology have obvious benefits. Emailand voice over internet calls can enablequick and cheap contact with friends andrelatives across the globe. At a recentInternational Federation on Ageingconference in Melbourne on the topic ofsocial inclusion and technology, video wasalso highlighted as a means to helpimprove people’s quality of life, forexample the value of Skype for friends andfamilies who would otherwise not see orbe able to feel close to each other.26

These and other technologicaldevelopments meanwhile will continue toenhance both access and experience. Oneof our steering group members, KevinJohnson of Cisco considers that:

Video is perhaps the most disruptive andliberating area of technological developmentright now. It is also one of the most relevantfor social inclusion, because it’s aboutenabling human contact, interaction,participation and engagement (i.e. the verythings that make people feel good). Someexamples of the way it could be used include:

- live interaction: easy-to-use, ultra highdefinition links between individuals orgroups in community facilities, home, andpublic spaces;

- recorded video: new, easy ways to share

moments with others, help people feelinvolved, and feel good;

- broadcast video: sharing events via digitalmedia platforms, to interest, amuse orcreate a buzz.

Meanwhile, work on an internet over TVprotocol27 and the availability of pre-programmed remotes will make it easierto use the internet over TV, potentiallymaking it possible for more older peopleto have access the web using familiartechnology that is already in their frontroom. The Digital Switchover Programme,and the support it gives to olderpeople28, provides the opportunity topromote use of the internet over TV andto provide access to many older peoplewithout computers.

Technology is becoming a bigger part ofeveryone’s life, making it easier for peopleof all kinds to:

- maintain contact with family, friends anda wider group of individuals with whomthey have something in common, such aswork, hobbies or common experiences;

- gain access to information aboutactivities and services that meet theirinterests and needs;

- learn;

- engage in paid work and volunteering;

- participate in debates and have their sayon issues;

- find the best prices for products andservices.

Without the technology that benefits anincreasing majority of the population,older people do not have access to thesame information and opportunities as

their younger peers. They may as a resultbegin to feel over time that they have lessin common with younger people andother members of the community. Quitesimply, they lack the same opportunitiesfor engagement.

There are relatively few projects which usetechnology to address social isolationamong older people. However, the smallnumber that we came across in this researchreported very positive user experiences. Auser of INtouch kirklees, a local authoritydigital information service that also acts as ahost to online interest groups (see Annex 1for more information) said:

When you live by yourself (and I don’t get outall that much actually), it’s contact. You feelthat you’re with people. Well, it opened up awhole new world for me, doing things that Inever would have done in a million years… It’snot just a resource centre, it’s a sort of a club,and it gives people a voice – it can empowerpeople as well.29

In an evaluation report for theLeicestershire CareOnLine initiative, whichprovides computer and assistivetechnology training and support in olderpeople’s homes (see Annex 1 for moreinformation), participants reported thatthey had benefited in a number of ways.They felt the training had enabled greatersocial interaction. Participants said theyhad made new friends through the serviceand reported that it had made them feellike they had things in common withyounger people and others in thecommunity. It had also improved theirconfidence and the ability to access otherservices through the internet.30

Another evaluation, this time of the AngusGold project which offered training and

support to the over-50s in usingtechnology (see Annex 1 for moreinformation), also emphasised the socialbenefits. Participants said the traininghelped them maintain social ties, especiallywith dispersed family. They were able todiscover common ground with youngerfamily members and re-establish links withlost contacts. The result was increasedsocial contact and a more developednetwork. It had also helped some toparticipate in community events.31

An explicit objective of Angus Gold was tosupport community engagement. Some ofthe participants became volunteers,actively supporting others to adopttechnology. This illustrates an importantfactor, older people can give as well asreceive social support. This element ofreciprocity is crucially important. Incommon with the rest of the population,older people want to feel that they aregiving something back to society and thatthe positive contribution that they makeis valued.

Recent research has identified some of thelife changes that encourage older peopleto take up the internet. Triggers include:taking up a specific hobby, enteringretirement, having relatives move abroad,becoming housebound or losing apartner.32 Four of these life changes couldalso mark reduced social contact andpotentially loneliness and depression. Moreevidence that for older people, technologycan be a means of preventing or alleviatingsocial isolation and loneliness.

Emerging findings from an ongoingresearch project at LoughboroughUniversity based on focus groups andindividual interviews with older people

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When you live by yourself (and Idon’t get out all that muchactually), it’s contact. You feel thatyou’re with people. Well, it openedup a whole new world for me, doingthings that I never would have donein a million years… It’s not just aresource centre, it’s a sort of aclub, and it gives people a voice –it can empower people as well.

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reveal that they are motivated to usetechnology by a number of factors. Theseinclude the desire to remain active andindependent and to communicate withfamily and friends, especially remote ones,using email. They were also motivated touse technology in order to ensure ‘theworld does not pass them by’, to seekinformation, particularly news and healthinformation, and to support their learningand education generally. Those whoparticipated in the research reported thathaving the ability to get online gave themthe sense of having more social support.

They also reported feeling more mentallyalert, challenged, useful and ‘younger’.33

Technology then has potential to helpolder people renew or develop socialcontacts and actively engage in theircommunities but our research andconsultation indicates that we need toincrease older people’s access and use of technology before we can realise thispotential. The next section explores this issue.

“

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This section considers the evidence aboutolder people’s access to and use oftechnology and barriers to greater usage.

Technology isn’t the thing we want olderpeople to access (or anyone else for thatmatter) – it is the services and capabilitiesand experiences that technology can enable.Ubiquitous network connectivity, and easyaccess is the key to the door.Kevin Johnson, Cisco

To take this further: in this instance it isn’tnetwork connectivity or access alone thatprovide the key. Services and applicationsdesigned to help older people renew ordevelop social contacts and to activelyengage in their communities are alsoneeded to unlock the potential oftechnology to improve lives.

Some of the figures on older people’s use,or rather non-use, of technology arestartling. 70% of over-65s report thatthey have never used the internet.34 Thisis notable given the evidence that digitalexclusion is linked to and can exacerbateother forms of disadvantage.35 Further,the groups least likely to use technologyare those older old people, 80-plus, whohave low or no educational qualifications,who would most benefit from the costcomparison, special offers and deliveryoptions that it offers. Another factor ofnote is that access to technology falls offdramatically if you compare the age group65-75 with the over-80s so for example,33% of people who are aged 65-75 havebroadband, but the figure declines to 13%for the over-75s. Similarly, 81% of 65-74year olds own a mobile phone but for the75-plus age group, this figure decreasesto 50%.37

The figures for older people’s use of theinternet remain surprisingly low, yet thisisn’t because they are incapable of usingit. The research suggests that olderpeople do have the capacity to usetechnology and are willing to learn.38 Thiswillingness, coupled with enthusiasm foracquiring new knowledge, appears to beone key determinant of success for olderadopters of new technology, just as it isacross all age groups. And, like people ofother ages, with the right support olderpeople can master technology and gainsignificant benefit from it.

Research by Age Concern and Help theAged39 indicates that one in six adults aged55-plus use social networking services likeFacebook, Skype, Twitter or YouTube,although OFCOM indicate that only 8% ofthose aged 55 and older have a socialnetwork profile (compared to 25% of alladults).40 Also, older people are the fastestgrowing group of internet users (althougha smaller percentage of older people areonline – as already noted)41 and peopleaged over 65 who have internet accessspend more hours online than the averagefor all ages (perhaps because older peoplehave more time).42 Just over two-thirds(68%) of internet users aged 65 and overuse it for communication on a weekly basis,only slightly less than all UK adult internetusers (72%). Nearly one-third use theinternet for transactions (for examplebanking, or shopping) on a weekly basis.Over one-quarter use it to look at news,although overall breadth of use is narrowerthan that for all UK adults.43

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4. Older people’s access to and useof technology

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The barriers to older peopleusing technology

There are a number of significant barriersto older people’s use of technology:

A lack of home access to the internetHome access to the internet variesconsiderably by age amongst those aged60-plus. Half of those aged 60-69 haveaccess to the internet at home but thisfalls to one in six (17%) of those aged 70and older.44 The younger old are alsomore likely to have digital radio and digitalTV than the over-70s. In 2009, olderpeople were still lagging behind youngeradults in having access to digital TV.Nearly a fifth of 65-74 year olds onlyhave analogue TV, and 30% of peopleaged 75-plus still have analogue,compared to less than 10% of adults of all ages.45

Meanwhile, adults aged over 60 areconsiderably less likely to get access tothe internet in the next year, and morelikely to give a voluntary reason for notgetting it than younger adults; in otherwords, older people don’t get access tothe internet because they think they don’tneed it. This same group is less likely thanothers to use all new media. Predictably,the medium it is most interested in istelevision.46

Home access to the internet is higheramong those in the higher socio-economic groups. This is also the case,but less dramatically so, for digital radioand television.47

Low awareness of what technology can offer 10% of those aged 60-69 have access tothe internet but don’t use it.48 A knee-jerk

reaction by some older people, unawareof its potential benefits, is thattechnology is not for them, that theywould derive no benefit from it. OFCOMcharacterises people with such an attitudeas ‘resistors’. OFCOM makes the pointthat attitudes towards technology anddigital services, rather than age, are whatdetermines engagement with digitalcommunications. Yet it also indicates thatolder people are among those most likelyto fall into the category of ‘resistors’.

Resistors are detached from digital services,believing them to be of little relevance to theirlives and actively resisting technologyadoption. However, this initial rejectionfrequently masks a sense of being daunted bytechnology and a desire for digital productsand services that are easier and simpler.These people also need to be clearly shownhow digital services could benefit them.49

OFCOM research examining the effect onattitudes of showing a five-minute videoto older people demonstrating what theinternet would enable them to do isstriking testimony to this. After seeing thisvideo there was a significant drop in thenumber of older people saying that theythought they would gain nothing fromhaving access to the internet. However,despite this most people still said nowhen asked whether they would take upthe internet if it was given to them forfree.50 This research seems to reinforcethe view that many older people are notonline because they do not see therelevance to them. Overcoming thisbarrier will, for many, be the first step ingetting them online.

Marketing does not reflect older people’sinterestsGenerally, technology is not marketed toolder people in a way that reflects theirneeds and interests:

Once someone has seen a photo of agrandchild or bought something online orchecked their bank account then they've gotit and you’ve successfully engaged them withdigital media and, unbeknown to them, therelevance of digital literacy.Emma Solomon, Digital Unite

The most common examples given by olderpeople of why they get on to the internet areto send and receive photos and keep in touchwith family and friends. We must talk abouttechnology in terms of what it can help themdo, and how they can benefit from it ratherthan in technical or theoretical terms.Making it easier to shop, bank, get the latestknitting patterns, is much more appealingthan talking about the Windows platform,hardware, and broadband speeds.Steve Tyler, RNIB

The marketing of technology is oftenaimed at young people, emphasising thenew ‘gimmicky’ aspects of the product,which most people, regardless of age, willnever use fully. Or it is aimed at the ‘frailelderly’, a group with which most olderpeople do not identify.

Inappropriate designMany of the experts that we interviewedalso considered that design was animportant issue:

Most technology gives the impression of beingdesigned by and for 24-year-old males. Littletechnology is sensitive to the needs andwants of older people. Alan Newell, Dundee University

The private sector is much moreconcerned about having a market amongthe younger age groups:

The so-called business case only works in autopian environment of unlimited capital.When you compete for capital in the real worldthe teens win out against the oldies. If therereally was a business case it would be pursued.Kevin Carey, Humanity

This lack of interest on the part ofdesigners can mean that products aren’tas user-friendly for older people as theymight be. For example, small buttons,fiddly controls and unnecessarilycomplicated interfaces are daunting topeople who may not have grown up withtechnology and whose manual dexterity isnot as good as it once was. The expertswe interviewed were clear that theappropriate response to this problem wasnot to create specially designed productsfor older people (this is regarded asstigmatising) but rather encourage moreinclusive design for all. The issues olderusers highlight, it was acknowledged, affectall of us to one degree or another.

Design is also important in another way.Older people don’t want ugly equipment,which would not look out of place in ahospital, in their home. In common witheveryone else, they want objects they arehappy to live with because they areaesthetically pleasing:

There... appears to be a view that it is notnecessary to design beautiful objects tosupport older and disabled people, andmanufacturers do not seem to correlate poor(private) sales and/or utilisation of theirequipment with this view.Alan Newell, Dundee University51

4. Older people’s access to and useof technology

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It is to be hoped that greater interest ininclusive design processes and greaterengagement from manufacturers anddesigners as the population ages will makedesign which is appropriate across ageranges more of a commercial imperative.

Other issues

Cost: Cost is often cited as a significantbarrier in the minds of older people.Older people tend to assume that thecosts of technology are higher than theyactually are (for example, assuming thatcomputers cost £1,000, when they arenow available for much less).52 Astechnology has become ubiquitous, priceshave come down. Other costs of coursecome into play, and older people may alsobe concerned about the costs of ongoingsupport, of replacing hardware andupdating software and maintaining abroadband connection.

Breakage: Another issue, raised by oursteering group, is the fear of breakingequipment:

Some older people may have worked infactories where an error could break amachine and cost lives (and their jobs).Kevin Doughty, Centre for UsableTechnology York University

Qualitative research conducted withpeople aged 55-64 and those aged 65-plus found that the main barriers to digitalinclusion were a lack of understanding andconfidence, combined with fears aboutdoing something wrong and security.53

Security: Research undertaken in 2005 byLoughborough University identified anumber of barriers to older people’s useof the internet, some of which havealready been mentioned here. Additionallythe research identified concerns aboutsecurity and privacy as barriers for olderpeople using the internet.54 These worrieshave been echoed in more recentLoughborough research with focus groupsand individuals where once again securityand privacy were notable issues forparticipants. For a complete list of barriersidentified by the research, see the notes.55

This section lays out the sort of provisionthat is needed to encourage and supportolder people to use technology to activelyengage in their communities. It highlightssome notable projects on whose success wemight build.

What sort of provision needs tobe put in place

The view of some of the experts whoseviews we canvassed is that we don’t neednew technology. Instead, we needcontinued improvement in technology’sspeed, functionality and interoperability,further reduction in costs and easier waysto interact with it. Most of all we need toapply the technology we have intelligently,developing service options that:

- encourage and support older people’suse of technology by taking intoaccount such issues as training, ongoingsupport, cost and design (includingappropriate interfaces);

- apply technology creatively to enableolder people to make connections, buildnetworks and actively engage in theircommunities.

Consumer Panel Research suggests thatolder people are interested in usingtechnology if they are aware of itsbenefits and if they receive the righttraining and support.56 Similarly, emergingfindings from ongoing research byLoughborough suggests that olderpotential users need, amongst otherthings, to understand the relevance of ICTto daily living and they need ongoingassistance, advice and reassurance.57 Thisresearch also suggests that older peoplerequire information about the costs of

getting and maintaining equipment and abroadband connection. The implication isthat we need to help older people betterappreciate both the costs of technologyand what it can offer them, while givingthem the right support and training toenable them to use it well, developingtheir confidence and skills.

The provision of training and ongoingsupport is key because it helps olderpeople overcome some of their anxietiesabout technology, their preconceptionsabout how difficult it is to use and aboutthe cost of support when accessed on theopen market. Training and support is alsovital to ensure that older people cancontinue to use technology as it developsor as they experience sight or otherproblems which necessitate changeseither in the technology they use or howthey use it. However, training and ongoingsupport is perceived to be one of thebiggest gaps in provision:

One of the biggest problems is education,making sure there are ways for people toaccess technology which make it attractive.Lots of money is often put into capitalpurchases like hardware or infrastructure butongoing training and support... is whatpeople want and need.Steve Tyler, RNIB

Research canvassing older people’s viewsabout what would help them access anduse computers and the internet supportsthis analysis. Interviewees said thatawareness raising, training, subsidies andongoing help would support them toadopt technology. With regard to training,those questioned preferred small classesor one-to-one tuition that would allowthem to learn at their own pace, not feel

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embarrassed by asking questions andlearn alongside people like themselves.58

One emerging finding from ongoingresearch by Loughborough Universityindicates that older people have apreference for training in informal settingswhere they work with their peers.59 Oursteering group also emphasised the needto provide training for people in their ownhomes either because they may be unableor unwilling to visit community facilities orother venues where training is provided.

Access to technology and the contact thatit enables is likely to help reduce socialisolation but so too will the training,education and support which facilitatesaccess, particularly if based around groupactivities. A systematic review of a range ofinterventions used to alleviate and preventsocial isolation and loneliness among olderpeople identified that the most effectiveapproaches were group activities with aneducational or support input.60

Given that one of our concerns is toprevent and address social isolation andloneliness our emphasis is on making andmaintaining connections throughtechnology. One of the members of oursteering group stressed the need for:

...more volunteers to become involved, familiesto take responsibility. It's about actuallyspending time with people and talking tothem, people making themselves availablethrough technology... We need to get people toaccept that being a virtual or remote friend issomething that is needed. Then we can puttogether the technology package that bestutilises that resource.Kevin Doughty, Centre for UsableTechnology, York University

We therefore need to develop serviceoptions focused on facilitating olderpeople’s opportunities to connect andactively engage.

In summary then, we need serviceresponses that enable older people to getonline and which support them to stayonline. At the same time, services shoulduse technology creatively to provideopportunities for older people to connectwith others and develop mutuallysupportive networks. The good practiceexamples below are starting todemonstrate how technology might beused in this way.

Building on good practice

One of the experts involved in this projectsummed up existing provision in thefollowing way:

Being diffuse, projects are small-scale andtend not to last.Leela Damodaran, LoughboroughUniversity

Other experts suggested that there is adearth of provision based on the keyelements we have identified as important(design including appropriate interfaces;training focused on how older peoplewant to use technology; ongoing supportfrom a trusted source and affordability).However, in our research we came across asmall clutch of projects that have beensustained over a number of years andwhich demonstrate all, or the majority of,these elements.

Three of the four projects describedbelow are public sector projects, althoughone started life in the voluntary sector.One is a private sector initiative albeit one

that delivers significant social benefit. Inour research we also came across notablevoluntary sector schemes which ransuccessfully for a couple of years but werenot sustained once their initial projectfunding ceased. The four sustainedpractice examples that struck us asnoteworthy are:

Digital Unite helps organisations such assheltered housing landlords get theirresidents online and trains specialisttutors which visit learners at home. Animportant initiative developed by DigitalUnite is Silver Surfers’ Day. This providesresources to support local organisationsin the public, private and voluntarysectors offering free IT taster sessions toolder people in their communities on onenational day across the UK. Digital Unitehas sought to overcome design andtechnical issues by developing appropriateresources and it has supported olderpeople’s continued use of technology bydeveloping ‘digital learning communities’which are self-sustaining.

CareOnLine, an initiative of LeicestershireCounty Council, provides informationabout local services and offers a chatroomfacility. It provides computer and assistivetechnology, training and support in olderpeople’s homes. It developed its own webinterface based on feedback from itsusers. It is notable because it offers acomprehensive service, providing accessto the equipment, training and ongoingsupport that older and other vulnerablepeople need. Also, it has a dedicated teamthat provides support.

INtouch kirklees is a local digitalinformation service which also enableslocal people to provide content and

participate in interest groups run by avolunteer. It has an attractive interfacewhich is designed to be easy to navigate.The service is accessible over digital TV,mobile phones and the Wii.

Kirklees has found that take up of digitalTV in disadvantaged areas is very high. Itbelieves that the Digital SwitchoverProgramme will significantly extend accessto the service particularly amongst theover-75s who will benefit from the HelpScheme.

Although InTouch kirklees ispredominantly a local information service,Kirklees considers that it has been mostvaluable for those who are in some wayisolated, who previously felt 'left out' and'left behind'.

INtouch spawned the Looking Localinitiative, a not-for-profit company set upby Kirklees to provide similar digitalinformation platforms to other publicsector agencies on a subscription basis.Other public sector authorities havetherefore used the service to offer interestgroups and therefore networkingopportunities of various kinds tocommunity members.

Looking Local develops plug-ins orparticular additional elements that localauthorities and other public sectoragencies can add to the basic digitalpackage. It is currently developing a plug-in with Timebank that provides access toinformation about timebankingopportunities on its platform. Thisadaptable platform therefore has thepotential to support applications whichare specifically aimed at older people andwhich support social networking andcommunity engagement.


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Kirklees is also a partner in the VIRTExproject. This is a partnership betweenTunstall Healthcare Group, FoldHousing Association, Housing 21,Looking Local and the University ofSheffield.61 VIRTEx is using digital TV toset up a virtual community of serviceusers and carers. It is also piloting two-way video conferencing. It characterisesthe project as social networking usingdigital TV.

Angus Gold sought to provideinformation and increase awareness,usage and uptake of IT/internet accessby the over-50s. It developed a websiteinvolving the participants and focusedon the access and usability needs ofinexperienced and frail users. Freetraining was delivered to small groups,tailored to each learner, in community

locations. A mobile training facility wasalso used. The project was regarded byparticipants as an opportunity toestablish or widen their social networks.A key objective was to involveparticipants in the community. This wasachieved through forums, whichengaged in discussion and actionrelating to the interests and concernsof the participants. The project, startedin 2004, was due to finish in March2006 but was extended for a furtheryear to allow for completion. Theapproach is now embedded in theCommunity Learning and DevelopmentService in Angus.

See Annex 1 for more informationabout these organisations and projects.

One of the biggest problems iseducation, making sure there are waysfor people to access technology whichmake it attractive. Lots of money isoften put into capital purchases like

hardware or infrastructure butongoing training and support is what

people want and need.Steve Tyler, RNIB

“

”

...I don't think that for the very elderly agegroup, who are likely to be the most lonely,that a technological revolution is feasible.Using existing technology in a new way islikely to be the way forward.Alan Walker, University of Sheffield

This report summarises some of theevidence indicating that social isolation andloneliness among older people is a major problem and suggests thattechnology may be part of the solution,helping older people to renew or developsocial contacts and to actively engage intheir communities. We have concluded that:

- solutions do not necessarily lie in thedevelopment of new kit but rather inbetter use of the technology thatalready exists (which is constantlyevolving);

- technology by itself is not the answer, itcannot replace human contact, but itmay be a means of better facilitating it;

- older people need training and supportto start using and keep usingtechnology;

- design and ease of use issues need to beaddressed;

- the benefits of technology need to bemarketed to older people in a way thatreflects their needs and aspirations;

- we need to develop and supportintermediaries to empower, educate andenable older people to be part of thesolution, for example, by volunteering inpeer-to-peer support schemes;

- we need to develop service options whichsupport/create opportunities for olderpeople to connect and participate.

In developing recommendations we havesought to:

• build on what we know about the needsand aspirations of older people;

• build on existing work and complementor supplement it;

• advocate approaches which aresustainable and capable of beingdelivered across the country so moreolder people can benefit;

• provide a framework for collectiveaction.

In considering our recommendations, werecognised the need to prioritise among anumber of important issues and so had toleave aside two which we considerparticularly relevant: the issue ofappropriate design and the need todevelop a market for services andproducts suited to the needs andaspirations of older people. Rather thanbeing directed at the private sector ourrecommendations are directed at both thevoluntary and the public sectors.

Our recommendations fall under twoheadings:

- Supporting older people to get onlineand stay online. This is a key buildingblock because it enables access to socialnetworking facilities and otherapplications which support and promotecommunity engagement;

- Increasing awareness in the public sectorof the issue of social isolation andloneliness and encouraging public sectororganisations to make adaptations totechnology-based services that will helpaddress the problem. We regard this as ameans of achieving the sustained,

6. Conclusions and recommendations

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ongoing provision which will bringlasting social benefit to socially isolatedolder people.

Supporting older people to get onlineAs indicated in the last section, asignificant amount of work is alreadybeing supported under the heading digitalparticipation and one priority group forthis work is older people.

One important initiative is Silver Surfers’Day organised by Digital Unite; onenational day on which local organisationsare supported in running internet tastersessions for older people. Although theinitiative is very valuable, it operates onlyone day each year and Digital Unite areconsidering how they can extend theprogramme so that activities are runthroughout the year. We propose to supportthis initiative by developing and launching avoluntary sector pledge: Using Digital Unite’sresources and support (as well as others’),charities and other voluntary organisationswould pledge to run events on Silver Surfers’Day and throughout the year with theintention of getting all the older people theywork with and their older staff and volunteersonline by demonstrating its benefits to them.

One of the themes of our research andconsultation work is the importance ofproviding education and ongoing supportto older people in their use of computersand the internet. A number of technology‘buddying’ schemes for older peoplealready exist, including some that matcholder people with youngertrainers/supporters.62 However weconsider that there is a need for moreprovision and we propose to develop ascheme called Learn to Help that will notonly help older people to get online but

will help them to stay online throughmembership of a support communitywilling to share knowledge and providepractical help. The Learn to Help schemewould build on the voluntary sectorpledge, working through charities andother voluntary organisations to recruitvolunteer helpers (including but notrestricted to older volunteer helpers) tosupport older people, one to one, in theirlearning about and use of computers andthe internet. The volunteer would besomeone that the older person feltcomfortable contacting whenever theyneeded help. Assistance would beprovided over the phone, by email orface-to-face and in the older person’shome if appropriate. Volunteers would benetworked through groups with a groupleader and would be provided withresources and materials to support theirwork. Our intention is to develop theinitiative as a social enterprise that is bothsustainable and scalable.

Encouraging the public sector to respondSignificant investment is made by localauthorities and primary care trusts inservices for older people but the generalperception is that scant attention is givento the issue of social isolation and theserious impact it can have on olderpeople’s health. We propose to work withbodies like IDeA, the Association of Directorsof Social Services and the Local GovernmentAssociation to raise awareness of this agendaamong staff in the public sector and topromote the good practice that some havealready developed in adapting existingtechnology-based services to respond moredirectly to the problem.

Our research and consultation workindicates that both telecare and localauthority digital information services offersignificant potential to provide servicesenabling older people to renew anddevelop social contacts and become moreactively engaged in their communities.Adapting these services could costrelatively little and bring potentially largesavings for the public sector because olderpeople are supported and encouraged tobe as independent, as active and asengaged as possible for longer.

Attention is only starting to be paid to thepotential that telecare has to addresssocial as well as health and care needs.VIRTEx, described in Annex 1, offers a rareexample of using existing telecaretechnology, in this case digital TV, todevelop a virtual community of serviceusers and carers . It provides a potentialmodel that the public sector mightconsider when developing orcommissioning telecare services.

The local authority digital informationservice, Looking Local, described in thelast section, already provides a platformfor social networking, for example hostingbook and bridge clubs.

We propose to commission development of anew plug-in for Looking Local, available to allpublic sector subscribers, focused on olderpeople, local services, social networking andopportunities for volunteering and communityengagement. We will also market this newcomponent to promote its use.

These recommendations are designed tohelp achieve better outcomes and improvedquality of life for older people. We considerthat as the population ages and as thenumber of older one-person householdsincreases that isolation and loneliness willbecome an ever more pressing issue. Onthe basis of the work we have undertakenwe consider that appropriate use oftechnology holds great potential toenhance older people’s wellbeing, providingopportunities to connect; be active; takenotice; keep learning and give.63 We hopethat others will support us in our efforts torealise this potential.

6. Conclusions and recommendations

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Annex 1 Notable examples of practice

Digital Unite

Digital Unite (DU) defines and manageslocal and national campaigns to get olderpeople online and to put digital inclusionon the political and media agenda. Itprovides digital skills training that isfocused on the over-50s, and designedfor new and nervous users. DU manages aUK-wide network of specialist tutors whodeliver on-site digital skills tuition to olderlearners at home, at work, and in othercommunity and learning environments.

DU services range from providing personalassistance to older individuals, who want toachieve or extend their digital skills, rightthrough to running national campaignsthat bring together the voluntary andprivate sectors and the wider community,to help older people get and remain online.Learning and using of IT is an excellentcatalyst for intergenerational dialoguewhere older people can learn from theyoung and vice versa. Wherever possibleDU harnesses this resource.

The DU Learning Zone is an area on theDigital Unite website providing a richresource of Learning Guides to help peopleimprove their digital skills from their home.They're designed to work as a resource fortrainers and as something people can useto teach themselves. Free to use and easyto print they are a resource available toeverybody. Incorporated into this zone is aQ&A area, where users can ask and answerquestions and share what they've learned.

DU is probably best known for itsorganisation of the annual Silver Surfers'Day (SSD) campaign. SSD encourages andsupports organisations of every kind torun hundreds of free events for older usersup and down the country. Thousands of

people take part and try out digitaltechnology, often for the very first time.Even more are reached by the nationalpublicity campaign that explains whydigital inclusion matters and encouragesmore people to try IT.

In 2009, DU worked with UK onlinecentres and ran over a thousand events.They estimate that the associatedpublicity reached more than eight millionpeople. The 2010 Silver Surfers’ Day willbe the largest event ever run and willinclude the active cooperation ofOFCOM, The BBC, Decca, MLA, Raceonline 2012, Age UK, NIACE, UK onlinecentres and the NHS - amongst others.

DU is one of three partners behindBeGrand.net, a website launched inJanuary 2010, that is designed to provideinformation and an online community forgrandparents. The site is funded by theDCSF as part of Family Information Direct,a programme that focuses on findinginnovative ways to support families.

Following the government's commitment inBuilding a Society for All Ages to promote andsupport digital inclusion for older residentsin sheltered housing, Digital Unite andNIACE have recently launched a far-reachingdigital inclusion programme in theseenvironments, Get Digital. Get Digital isavailable to social landlords in England whomanage sheltered housing schemes. It isfunded by Communities and LocalGovernment (CLG) and will run until March2011. By the end of the project DU will haveworked with 195 sheltered housing schemesto improve the digital literacy of theirresidents and provided online assistance tothe residents in a further 300 schemes.

www.digitalunite.com

UK online centres

UK online centres was set up bygovernment in 2000 to provide publicaccess to computers. Its mission is toconnect people to digital skills andopportunities, using technology toimprove lives and life chances.

There are 6,000 UK online centres acrossEngland – on high streets, in libraries,internet cafés, and community centres.Some are mobile, on buses. Many use theweb portal myguide to introduce people tothe world of ICT. Launched in October2007, the myguide website offers a free,easy to use email service and web searchfacility from a simple homepage, plus tastercourses to help people get to grips withcomputers and the internet.

Around two million people use UK onlinecentres every year, they are in 84% ofdeprived wards, around half of the peopleusing them have no formal qualifications,and one-third consider themselves tohave a disability or mental health issue.

UK online centres has launched aninitiative called Pass IT On. Encouragingpeople to pass on use of IT to friends,family, employees and even completestrangers. A new website developed byUK, www.helppassiton.co.uk includes theinformation and resources bothindividuals and organisations (atwww.partners.helppassiton.co.uk) need tostart passing their IT know-how on toother people.

www.ukonlinecentres.com

CareOnLine

Leicestershire County Council’s CareOnLineservice provides computer and assistive

technology, training and support in olderpeople’s homes. It has a comprehensivewebsite and chatroom facility developed tohelp reduce social isolation for vulnerableadults and older people provided by theCouncil’s Adult and Social Care Services.

It operates a website with significant localinformation, resources and a grapevinesection that provides a place to shareinformation and communicate on topics ofcommon interest. This is also a mechanismfor mutual support. Sections of the websitecover wide range of topics includinghobbies, news, sports, money advice,disability, health and social care andcommunity safety.

Since starting in 2001 it has helped over600 individuals in their own homes. It hasalso provided assistance with equipmentand training to enable 3000 people in 25sheltered housing locations, 24 social carelocations, and 12 voluntary organisationsto experience using computers.

The team is made up of four full-timeequivalent staff and has a budget ofaround £100,000 a year, withapproximately 30% coming from grants.

A 2003 evaluation found that 97% ofservice users reported a favourableexperience with the project, while 69%said that they had no prior intention toconnect to the internet and would nothave connected without it.

A key determinant of the service’s successis considered to be its practical, hands-onapproach providing users with theequipment that they need, the trainingthey need to use it and ongoing support.

www.leicscareonline.org.uk/index/about_careonline.htm

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INtouch kirklees and Looking Local

INtouch kirklees is a local digital TV sitewhich enables residents to access servicesand information electronically. Kirklees sayssome of its main motivations for developingINtouch were:

• to give universal e-access to citizens,particularly those without internetaccess or PC skills;

• to increase social and digital inclusionby making use of the familiar technologyof television;

• to build confidence and increaseparticipation by encouraging people tocreate their own content and valuingtheir contribution;

• to promote community cohesion andinvolvement by encouraging discussionbetween people who wouldn't otherwisemeet.

Kirklees believes the site has had thegreatest impact for those people who arein some sense isolated and therefore‘excluded’ from the community. Thisapplies to older people or those who havemobility problems, those who do not havePCs at home and find it difficult to makeuse of community IT facilities due tochildcare or other caring commitments,and those who are so wary of newtechnologies that they do not have theconfidence to use a computer.

INtouch has been able to remove thebarriers between these residents and IT,helping people to take part in theircommunities regardless of theircircumstance because in those areas ofKirklees that are considered to be

disadvantaged, the take-up of digitaltelevision is high. (INtouch is available onSky, cable, and freeview boxes with a backchannel). INtouch is also available toanyone with an internet-enabled mobilephone and to anyone with a Wii.

INtouch kirklees offers over 5,000 pagesof information from Kirklees Council, otherpublic sector organisations, voluntarygroups and Kirklees residents. In additionto a range of advice and information andlocal authority service options, users cancontribute their own information, includingcreative writing, memories and personalstories, messages to a loved one and recipeideas and can participate in a virtualreading and creative writing group, run by avolunteer, and use related library servicesand information. Kirklees believes thatbeing able to use services and shareinformation via the familiar medium oftelevision helps participants to feel moreconfident in their own abilities.

DigiTV - Looking Local was set up to sharethe knowledge and experience that Kirkleesdeveloped with INtouch with other localauthorities, and to solve the problems oftechnical complexity and affordability. Itprovides a range of public sectororganisations with a platform for digitalinformation services. In essence, INtouchkirklees is a customer of the Looking Localservice, in common with 120 other localauthorities, housing associations and otherpublic sector organisations.

Looking Local is a partner in the VIRTExproject. Other partners include TunstallHealthcare Group, housing trusts andSheffield University. VIRTEx is using digitalTV to set up a virtual community ofservice users and carers. It is also piloting

two-way video conferencing. Itcharacterises the project as socialnetworking using digital TV.

www.kirklees.gov.uk/community/intouch/intouch.shtml

Digital Outreach

Digital Outreach is a partnership betweenAge Concern, Help the Aged, CommunityService Volunteers and CollectiveEnterprises Ltd. Its goals are to:

• Identify and support people who areexperiencing or may experience barriersor disadvantage in adopting digitaltechnologies;

• Raise awareness about new digital andassistive technologies;

• Provide information, assistance andresearch services to organisationswishing to increase the take-up of newtechnologies through being moreinclusive;

• Provide training, expertise andknowledge services around the theme ofthe use of technology in people’s homes.

Digital Outreach has been commissionedto deliver the Community OutreachProgramme for the switchover fromanalogue to digital television. The DigitalSwitchover Community OutreachProgramme supports people who do notqualify for the government's SwitchoverHelp Scheme, but who nevertheless needor would like some assistance or advice inmaking the switch from analogue todigital TV.

Digital Outreach considers that televisionas well as being a source of entertainment

and information, can also be a form ofcomfort or companionship to somepeople, particularly those who arehousebound or infirm. It believes that theavailability of digital TV will bring manybenefits, such as more channels andadvanced features, and that it isimportant that everyone knows what todo to ensure they will be able to receivedigital television after the switchover.

The organisation achieves its aims byworking with and through trustedvoluntary sector and charitableorganisations. In each region it enableslocal organisations to support older,disabled and other potentially vulnerablepeople by providing information andspeakers for events or drop-ins, trainingvolunteers and developing a network ofhelp and advice for older, disabled,vulnerable and disadvantaged people tohelp them make the switch.

In the Granada region, building on itsexperience on the Community OutreachProgramme for switchover, it has beenrunning a three-month pilot schemecalled Get Connected: Get Online aimedat older people and people on lowincomes. It has worked with two voluntaryorganisations, one rural and one urban,Age Concern Stockport and Villages inPartnership, to run 100 events about theinternet. These have been run at places orgatherings that are familiar to the targetgroup and are delivered by trusted peoplewho are known to them.

www.digitaloutreach.org.uk

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Angus Gold

The Angus 50+ project, re-named byusers as Angus Gold, aimed to provideinformation and increase awareness, usageand uptake of IT and internet access inthe 50-plus age group. The projectdeveloped a website with the participants,and focused on the access and usabilityneeds of inexperienced and frail users.

Free IT training was delivered to smallgroups, tailored for each learner andcarried out in locations the learners feltcomfortable with, such as day centres andsheltered housing complexes. The projectalso offered a drop-in facility with support.A mobile training facility was also used.Over 700 participants have undertakenbasic computer training with a quarterprogressing to further training atcommunity college level and over a quarterpurchasing their own computers.

An evaluation of the project found that ofthose with access to a computer, 70%reported using it for email, 64% foraccessing the internet and 45% for gettinginformation. The project has successfullytargeted individuals who might face barriersto accessing training elsewhere, with 44%living alone, 40% with a chronic illness ordisabling condition and a third rarely or notalways able to get out and about. Thetraining had a less than 10% drop-out rate.

Key factors that led to success were: theage-targeted format, everyone being at asimilar level and the relaxed atmosphereand tone of the classes. All these madethe classes a welcome opportunity toestablish or widen a social network forthe participants. The training revealedunexpected levels of literacy problems

and instructors had to find teachingmethods that avoided emphasis onreading and typing.

Participants noted that they used theirnew skills to book holidays and makesavings, to use online auction sites, buygoods online, use search engines, and foronline banking and money management.

The project also produced a smartcard fordiscounts and incentives and publications.A key object was to involve participants incommunity engagement activity. This wasachieved through Angus Gold Forums,which engaged in discussion and actionrelating to the interests and concerns ofthe participants.

The project, started in 2004, was due tofinish in March 2006 but was extendedfor a further year to allow for completion.It is now embedded in the CommunityLearning and Development Service inAngus.

The project budget was just over£560,000 spread over three years. Keyplayers were Angus Council, AngusCollege, Age Concern Scotland, Microsoft,Tayside Police and NHS Tayside.

Key to the success of the project has beenthe development of progression routes forparticipants; for example they can go on tobecome IT volunteers or take other trainingcourses to ensure the sustainability of thework and wider engagement (leading, forexample, to older people influencingservice delivery in other areas).

www.angusgold.com

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Seminar participants

Will Abbott, Freesat

Duncan Brindley, Video Juicer

Richard Curry, Imperial College

Kevin Doughty, JRF Centre for UsableHome Technology, University of York

Blaise F Egan, BT

Anne Faulkner, UK online centres

Simon Gallimore, Inclusive Digital TV Ltd.

Rama Gheerawo, The Helen HamlynCentre, Royal College of Art

Kathleen Gillet, Counsel and Care

Kevin Johnson, Cisco

Rebecca King, Antigone

Claire Lilley, Which?

Sheena McDonald, BBC

Adam Oliver, BT

Emma Solomon, Digital Unite

Jonathan Sykes, Tiscali

Leonie Vlachos, Age Concern and Helpthe Aged

Simon Walker, Maidthorn Partners

Bob Warner, OFCOM

Alison Williams, Tunstall Healthcare Group

Debbie Wosskow, Maidthorn Partners

Interviewees

Kevin Carey, Humanity

Alex Carmichael, Dundee University

Sue Collins, JRF

Anne Faulkner, UK Online

Guido Gybels, RNID

Julie Howell, Fortune Cookie

Paul Cann, Age Concern Oxford

Chris Sherwood, NESTA

Emma Soloman, Digital Unite

Steve Tyler, RNIB

Kevin Doughty, Centre for Usable HomeTechnology at York University

John Gill, RNIB

Alan Newell, Dundee University

Ali Rogan, Turnstall Health Care Group

Professor Gregg Van Der Heiden,University of Wisconsin-Madison

Leonie Vlachos, Age Concern and Helpthe Aged

Professor Alan Walker, University ofSheffield

The following individuals also providedvaluable input:Mima Cattan, Northumbria University; IanRetson, Leicestershire CareOnLine andDavid Rowland, Age Concern Liverpool.

Annex 2 Interviewees andseminar participants

33

Emma Soloman - Digital Unite

Damian Radcliffe - OFCOM

Adam Oliver - BT

Brian Lamb - RNID

Leela Damodaran - Research School ofInformatics, Loughborough University

Guy Giles - Looking Local

Alan Taylor - BBC

Ben Brown- UK online centres

Kevin Doughty - Centre for Usable HomeTechnology, University of York

Paul Cann - Age Concern Oxfordshire

Kevin Johnson - Cisco

Jacques Mizan - Young Foundation

Andrew Barnett - Calouste GulbenkianFoundation, UK

Luis Jeronimo - Calouste GulbenkianFoundation, Portugal

Annabel Knight - Calouste GulbenkianFoundation, UK

Annex 3 Steering group members

34

1 Opportunity Age: Meeting the challenges of ageing inthe 21st century, Department of Work andPensions, (2005).

2 Our Health, Our Care, Our Say: A new direction forcommunity services, Department of Health WhitePaper (2006).

3 The Department of Health says ‘telecare is as muchabout the philosophy of dignity and independenceas it is about equipment and services. Equipment isprovided to support the individual in their homeand tailored to meet their needs. It can be assimple as the basic community alarm service, ableto respond in an emergency and provide regularcontact by telephone. It can include detectors ormonitors such as motion or falls and fire and gasthat trigger a warning to a response centre’. Formore information see:www.dh.gov.uk/en/SocialCare/Deliveringadultsocialcare/Olderpeople/DH_4116208. Recent spending on the preventative technologygrant programme totalled £80 million over twoyears and £30 million has been recently beendedicated to the ‘whole systems demonstratorprogramme’ and local authorities also invest intelecare without specific grant support.

4 Interview for this project with a care managerfrom Tunstall Healthcare Group, a private sectorprovider of telecare. She explained that theemphasis is generally on physical not socialneeds.

5 National Plan for Digital Participation, Departmentfor Business, Innovation and Skills (2010).

6 Digital Britain: final report, Department of Culture,Media and Sport (2009); and National Plan forDigital Participation, see previous note.

7 OFCOM has taken the lead in the establishmentof a Digital Participation Consortium, a UK-widecoalition of government, industry and voluntarysector organisations committed to increasingdigital participation and achieving greater impact

through better coordination and encouragingcollaboration between members. For moreinformation see: www.digitalparticipation.com

8 Examples include the use of teleconferencing forbook clubs and other discussion groups currentlybeing piloted and run by Independent Age’s LiveWires project, Community Network and RSVP. Thereare also a number of befriending services offered byphone, such as Net Neighbours, an Age ConcernYork project in which, after a chat, befrienders take agrocery list and make orders online for older people.Independent Age’s sister charity The UniversalBeneficent Society (UBS) is also running a projectcalled telephone buddies. Befrienders maketelephone contact with an older person, matched tothem by interest, at least once a month.

9 Findlay, R. A. ‘Interventions to reduce socialisolation amongst older people: where is theevidence?’ in Ageing and Society, 23 (2003).

10 BBC News 200411 www.elderlyparents.org.uk, reported at

www.saga.co.uk12 Victor, C.R., Scambler, S. J., Bowling, A., and Bond,

J., ‘The Prevalence Of, And Risk Factors For,Loneliness In Later Life: A survey of older peoplein Great Britain,’ Ageing and Society, 25 (2005).

13 Victor, C.R et al (2005) see note 12, and Cattan,M., White, M., Bond, J., Learmouth, A., ‘PreventingSocial Isolation And Loneliness Among OlderPeople: a systematic review of health promotioninterventions’, Ageing and Society, 25 (2005).

14 Victor, C.R. et al (2005) see note 12.15 One Voice: Shaping our ageing society, Age Concern

and Help the Aged, (2009).16 Ibid.17 Ibid. 18 Out of Sight, Out of Mind: social exclusion behind

closed doors, Age Concern (2008).

References

35

19 Ibid.20 Understanding Digital Exclusion, a research report

by FreshMinds for the Department forCommunities and Local Government, (2008).

21 Allen, J., Older People and Well-Being, Institute forPublic Policy Research, (2008).

22 From the discussion at our July 2009 seminar atthe RSA.

23 Putnam, R., Bowling Alone: the collapse and revivalof American community, New York: Simon &Schuster (2000).

24 Social isolation can be seen as part of a lack of‘social capital’. For the purposes of this report weare defining social capital as: ‘the number ofpeople who can be expected to provide supportand the resources those people have at theirdisposal’. This definition is drawn from Boxman, etal (1991). see:www.socialcapitalresearch.com/definition.html formore information.

25 Bolam et al, ‘Using New Media to Build SocialCapital for Health: a qualitative process evaluationstudy of participation in the citynet project’,Journal of Health Psychology, 11; 297 (2006); Sum,S. et al, ‘Internet Technology and Social Capital:how the internet affects seniors’, Social Capital andWellbeing (2008).

26 Personal communication from Kevin Johnson,Cisco.

27 The BBC’s Canvas Project: see the BBC websitefor details.

28 The Digital Switchover Help Scheme hasdesignated that all digiboxes in phase one willhave a return path and that all people over 75 andsome people on disability benefit will benefit fromthe Help Scheme.

29 Case study of INtouch kirklees on the lookinglocal website: www.lookinglocal.gov.uk

30 CareOnLine Evaluation Summary byLoughborough University Ergonomics and SafetyResearch Institute (ESRI) (2003).

31 Ward, R., Ferguson, J., Murray, S., ‘Evaluation ofthe Angus Gold Project (a partnership approachto digital education and social inclusion)’, RBSCentre for the Older Person’s Agenda, QueenMargaret University Research Findings, 8 (2008).

32 Introducing Another World: Older people and digitalinclusion, Age Concern and Help the Aged(2009).

33 Sustaining IT Use by Older People to PromoteAutonomy and Independence, Sus-IT research(2010). Sus-IT is a large collaborative project(CRP) funded as part of the New Dynamics ofAgeing (NDA) Research Programme which is inturn funded jointly by all five research Councils inthe UK and led by the Economic and SocialResearch Council (ESRC). The NDA programmedirector is Professor Alan Walker at SheffieldUniversity. More information is available at:www.newdynamics.group.shef.ac.uk

34 One Voice (2009) see note 15.35 Digital Inclusion: An analysis of social disadvantage and

the information society Department of Communitiesand Local Government, (2008) and UnderstandingDigital inclusion (2007) see note 20.

36 Ibid. 37 Digital Communications for All Consultation

Document OFCOM (2009). For details see:www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/access/access

38 For example, Digital Inclusion, Social Impact: Aresearch study, UK online centres (2008) showedin demonstrator models that older people withadequate support enthusiastically used IT. Fordetails see:www.ukonlinecentres.com/corporate/images/stories/downloads/digital_inclusion_research_report.pdf

36

References

39 Research commissioned by Age Concern/Helpthe Aged from ICM Research. See:www.ageconcern.org.uk/AgeConcern/internet-champion-release-210909.asp

40 UK adults’ media literacy, 2009: An interim report,OFCOM (2009).

41 Internet Access, Households and Individuals 2009,Office of National Statistics (2009).

42 Delivering digital inclusion: An action plan forconsultation, Communities and Local Government(2008).

43 Media literacy audit amongst older people, OFCOM(2006).

44 Digital Lifestyles: Adults aged 60 and over, OFCOM(2009).

45 The Consumer Experience, OFCOM (2009).46 Digital Lifestyles (2009) see note 44.47 Ibid.48 Ibid.49 Media Literacy Audit (2006) see note 43.50 Presentation on OFCOM research by Damian

Radcliffe at our March Steering Group meeting.51 Commentary on Computers and People with

Disabilities: Accessible computing - past trends andfuture suggestions by Alan F. Newell, ACMTransactions on Accessible Computing, Vol 1, No 2(2008).

52 Personal communication from Leonie Vlachos,Digital Manager, Age Concern England.

53 Introducing Another World: Older people and digitalinclusion, Age Concern and Help the Aged (2009).

54 Olphert, C.W et al Towards Digital Inclusion –engaging older people in the digital world Papergiven at Accessible Design in the Digital WorldConference, Dundee (2005).

55 Sustaining IT Use by Older People... (2010) seenote 33. Barriers recorded by this research alsoincluded: lack of confidence; reluctance to engagein/lack of familiarity with ‘trial and error’approaches; frequent changes in hardware andsoftware; the pace of demonstrations/delivery ofinstruction and guidance is too fast; confusionregarding the options in operating procedures;use of jargon and unfamiliar terminology; short-term memory problems; infrequent use results inproblems remembering passwords, proceduresetc; cost (including the cost of training and ofupdating software including virus protection);design issues - the lack of standardisation ofinterfaces; concerns about security.

56 Older People and Communications Technology,Communications Consumer Panel 2006 cited inAge Concern and Help the Aged One Voice(2009) see note 15.

57 Ibid.58 Introducing another world (2009) see note 55.59 Sustaining IT Use by Older People (2010) see

note 33.60 Cattan, M. et al Preventing Social Isolation (2005)

see note 13.61 With funding from the Government’s Technology

Strategy Board as part of the Assisted LivingInnovation Platform (ALIP).

62 Examples include BT Internet Rangers and arecent initiative by the BBC encouraging peopleto help friends onto the internet.

63 Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning, Give:5 ways to wellbeing, a report presented to theForesight Project on communicating the evidencebase for improving people’s wellbeing, neweconomics foundation (2008). For details see:www.neweconomics.org/sites/neweconomics.org/files/Five_Ways_to_Wellbeing_Evidence_1.pdf

Independent Age is unique in providinglifelong support to older people in need.We provide the information, advice,friendship and emergency grants theyneed, through our network of volunteers.Supported by Independent Age,thousands of older people across theUnited Kingdom and Ireland are able tomaintain their independence, contribute totheir communities and enjoy a goodquality of life.

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is aninternational charitable foundation withcultural, educational and social interests.Based in Lisbon with branches in Londonand Paris, the Foundation is in a privilegedposition to support transnational worktackling contemporary issues facing Europe.The purpose of the UK Branch in London isto connect and enrich the experiences ofindividuals, families and communities with aspecial interest in supporting those who arethe most disadvantaged. In 2008, theFoundation launched an initiative on ageingand social cohesion, with a number ofactivities developed with colleagues inLisbon. This report represents the latestdevelopment of a wide portfolio of workwhich we hope will contribute to a growingunderstanding of the impact ofdemographic ageing to our society.

37

Independent Age6 Avonmore RoadLondonW14 8RLTelephone: 020 7605 4200Fax: 020 7605 4201www.independentage.org.uk

The Royal United KingdomBeneficent Association

Independent Age is the operatingname of the Royal UnitedKingdom Beneficent AssociationCharity Registration Number 210729

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