Digital Inclusion – What Is It?

What it Means to Those in Later Life.

Digital Inclusion is a much-used phrase, but what actually is it?

In short, Digital Inclusion is all about helping you to stay connected to family and friends while being able to access the services you need. Mental and physical health are being put under enormous strain during the current pandemic. By giving people access to online services we can make a big difference to older people and their loved ones.

The world has changed and it is important to recognise the need for those of all ages, especially older people; to have access to health, education and social care digitally.

Action For Elders – Our Role in Digital Inclusion

We offer a wide programme of exercises; both live and recorded via a digital platform. We also provide hands-on support to help with digital problems and connection issues, no matter how difficult they may appear from the outset. Our Case Study below demonstrates how our practical approach works in the community…

Case Study – Michael

Michael, 72 had been very active in later life. When not playing football with his grand-children he was part of the local over-70s cricket team. Michael had been hugely enjoying the exercises and social interaction of our Balanced Lives programmes. Life was great, his fitness level and overall wellbeing seemed to be improving on a weekly basis.

Then lockdown happened and it all came to a halt. Social shielding for vulnerable groups such as his meant no cricket; our in-person Balanced Lives exercise programmes were put on hold. Most of all, he missed social interaction, especially football with his grand-children.

At Action for Elders, we had to adapt quickly if we were to continue to meet the needs of our beneficiaries. We took our services online so we could help people like Michael as their life had changed for the worse, so suddenly.

We loaned Michael a tablet and arranged to get him connected online. At first, he found it very hard to adapt and get to grips with computer basics. Thanks to Adrian, our Digital Support Officer, Michael was able to learn to use Zoom and send digital messages.

Michael took part in our ‘Live’ Zoom Balanced Lives Exercise sessions, together with others who had been in the same situation. There was no football or cricket, but thankfully Michael was able to show off his latest sporting moves to his grandchildren.

Digital Inclusion had enabled him to stay on the path to health, fitness and a happy later life.

To learn more about our digital support for older people and their carers, please follow the link