Silver surfer dudes!
Retirees are turning to technology and loving every moment, reports Jane Slade
NO ONE for a second should assume that those living in retirement villages are averse to modern technology.
In fact, many older people are embracing it with gusto and it appears that the pandemic has accelerated the use of Zoom and FaceTime calls, as well as the creation of apps, virtual villages and digital gyms.
It’s meant that isolated homeowners have been able to join in virtual tea parties, birthday celebrations and exercise classes.
Some retirement villages have set up Facebook groups for residents across its 16 villages, initiated an iPad lending scheme and provided entertainment and cookery demos over youTube.
Some residents even stepped up to technology challenges.
Derrick Myers, 90, a resident at retirement Village’s Elmbridge development, launched an intranet system. ‘When I first started using computers in 1967, never in my wildest dreams did I envisage the way the technology would develop and embrace so many people,’ says Mr Myers, a former magistrate and design engineer.
‘yes, even in these somewhat dangerous times, Skyping family and friends brings a certain “we are all in this togetherness” which, as an oldie, and remembering times in my teens, gives me confidence for the future.’
and Geoff Oxlee, 84, a former Group Captain with the royal air Force, produces a community newsletter at Pegasuslife’s Hortsley project in Seaford.
‘Many of us are embracing technology warmly. I am afraid that it’s something of a myth that older people are technophobes,’ he says.
Operators say technology is the key to making retirement homes pandemic-proof in future.
‘We will have a growing focus on technology and artificial intelligence,’ says Jamie Bunce, CEO of Inspired Villages.
‘We already have high- speed broadband in all seven villages, and teach IT skills to our residents, but we can do even more.’
an algorithm system is being trialled at Inspired Villages to learn how its residents live their everyday lives. ‘If someone puts a kettle on every morning and then, one day, they don’t, that could prompt us to knock on the door and make sure they’re all right,’ Bunce explains. ‘We’re also looking at harnessing the fall protection alerts on the new apple Watch.’
Inspired has also created a Virtual Village Centre on Facebook and installed high-tech workout equipment such as Interactive Motion Walls and EGyM Smart Strength Machines safely distanced apart in the gym.
Enterprise retirement living (Erl), meanwhile, which has three developments in ripon, Worcester and Chester, has engaged with a health technology company that can triage patients remotely.
It enables carers, via a mobile application, to collect observations and vital signs and send them to GPs and hospitals.