Older Adult Problems: Physical

          Even when the desire is there for older adults to want to learn how to use a computer they may have physical issues that keep them from pursuing training. Older adults often experience difficultly holding the mouse. They have trouble placing their hand correctly on the mouse. Arthritis is the main cause for this problem. There is also a declination in motor skills can make double clicking and move the mouse to the correct position difficult. They can also experience problems using the keyboard. Keys can be too close together. They also might have difficulty pushing the combination of keys at once (Bean, 2003).

Bean, C & Laven, M. (2003). Adapting to seniors: Computer training for older adults. Florida Libraries. 46(2).

Older Adult Problems: Cognitive

Older adults also experience cognitive problems when trying to work with computers. One aspect is the amount of attention that one has to give to the processes carried out when working on a program of website. Some seniors also have difficulty taking in the amount of information they see on a website. Some have memory problems and would confuse actions like clicking on a link and double clicking on an icon (Smith, 2012).

Seniors who are learning to use a computer are not use to working with a mouse and have trouble realizing how fast they need to double click. For those of use who work with computers on a daily basis, we do not realize how different little things can be (Bean & Lavern, 2003).

Let’s look at how we navigate a page. If you look at the image below you can see how many things the user has to remember when moving around on a page. 

It may be second nature to us but to a new user it can be very difficult. Just a single click can produce many different effects. It can move the page completely, a little or not at all. 

Sources

Bean, C & Laven, M. (2003). Adapting to seniors: Computer training for older adults. Florida Libraries. 46(2).

Smith, N. (2012). Teaching computer skills to senior citizens: a Library assistant's learning experience. Georgia Library Quarterly. 49(1).

Older Adult Problems: Vision

One of the common ailments for elderly adults is vision problems. How does this affect their use of computers? Often, older adults wear bi-focals or tri-focals which can make it difficult for them to focus from the keyboard to the screen or visa-versa.  There is also the challenge of viewing the information on the screen due to glare and trouble reading large amounts of small text (Bean, 2003).

This is an example of a user friend website for seniors:

http://nihseniorhealth.gov/

You can see here that the text is large and readable. Links are plainly visible being in blue and underlined. The user is not overwhelmed with the amount of information, and the sections of text are short and to the point. There is also an easy to spot tool to increase the size of the text.

Here is an example of a website that is not senior friendly:

This site from the New York Times is not highly colored (which can make things difficult) but there is a lot of text that is clustered together. The menu to the left has text that is even smaller and would be hard to read. There is also no tool to adjust the site’s text.

This website outlines ideas that site creators might want to follow when creating a website.

http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-usability/older-users.shtml

Things like: keeping the site simple, making it plain if the pages requires scrolling, keeping language basic, and keeping the look simple. 

Additional Source:

Bean, C. (2003). Meeting the challenge: Training an aging population to use computers. Southeastern Librarian 51(3).

Pew Research Center: Senior Citizens and Digital Technology

There is really interesting information by the Pew Research Center on  Senior Citizens and Digital Technology.  There is a slideshow that gives a variety of figures.

I found it very surprising that according to the research it says that "50% of older Americans are internet users."

People age 75 and older:
40% are using the internet,
82% are using e-mail
61% use search engines
74% use the internet for maps or directions
61% use the internet for hobby or interest
49% use the internet for health information
54% use the internet for weather
47% use the internet for fun
45% use the internet for news
27% use the internet for video sharing
47% use the internet for buying products

People ages 66-74:
67% are using the internet
88% are using e-mail
88% use search engines
77% use the internet for maps or directions
68% use the internet for hobby or interest
63% use the internet for health information
84% use the internet for weather
59% use the internet for fun
66% use the internet for news
34% use the internet for video sharing
57% use the internet for buying products

I like facts and figures so this PowerPoint is really interesting. I really suggest vising the page and seeing the charts. It also covers use of other devices like smartphones. 3% of people age 75 and over have smart phones and 12% of people ages 66-74 use them. It also breaks down percentages of people using various forms of social media.


Source:
Rainie, L. (2012). Senior citizens and digital technology [slides]. Retrieved from Pew Research Center website: http://www.pewinternet.org/Presentations/2012/Sep/Senior-Citizens-and-Digital-Technology.aspx

My random thought

          While doing research and interviewing the patrons I had this thought that occasionally popped up in my head. Seniors are educating themselves about computers and technology, but we should get to a saturation point when this issue of helping seniors learn computers will not needed. As the current population ages they are mostly using computers on a daily basis (not all, but most), then they won’t have to be taught on how to use the computer.

          Issues I will address later are problems like cognitive, physical, and vision. These issues are not likely to change. Even now I find myself quickly falling behind with new technology (mostly because I’m poor). When a patron comes up with their laptop running windows 8 I feel lost. So, while there might be a need to keep people familiar with new programs, software, and devices, I think basic computer education won’t be in demand in the future.

Interview with Seniors

This is part of an interview I did with a few of my library’s patron who became regular users of computer due to taking classes. I asked them numerous questions about their computer use, needs, and concerns.

Mr. B is an older gentleman in his 70’s. He used computers daily in his work during the 80’s, but retired around 1990 and had not used a computer since. Mrs. C is a retired educator (late 60’s) whose computer use was limited during her working career. She used the computer with her children and grand children’s assistance but hated being dependent on them. Mrs. J (late 60’s) has always been a homemaker and never used a computer. The extent of using items of technology was her cell phone her children bought her.

Question: What was the reason you had not used computers before now?

Mr. B: I wanted to keep up with computers, and I bought one. But, by the time I bought it, it was different from what I had been use to and it was overwhelming. It just sat in the study and never got used  (personal communication, March 29, 2012).

Mrs. C: I always thought they were too expensive and did see how they would be helpful. So, I never thought about it. Then everything and everyone started to be on the internet, and I hated to keep bothering my children for help (personal communication, April 2, 2012).

Mrs. J: I was scared of them. They are expensive things, and I could not imagine having something that I could easily mess up. I was also scared that people would track me on the computer and :::laughs::: see in my house. I thought they were dangerous (personal communication, April 3, 2012).

Question: What is your view of computers now?

Mr: B: I really enjoy it. I’m still thinking about purchasing a new one, but for now I’m happy to come into the library to use it. I think I might try out one of those laptop you have (personal communication, March 29, 2012).

Mrs. C: They have been so useful. I even started paying bills over the Internet. It saves stamps! My children still have to help me some, and you know I’m in here often to ask for help. I really am glad I got one (personal communication, April 2, 2012).

Mrs. J: I’m not scared of them anymore. I do pay for tech support so that if I get stuck I can call them. I’m still cautious, but I have an e-mail account now and have gotten better about spotting that spam (personal communication, April 3, 2012).

I asked several other questions and will blog those later.

The beginning!

Teaching patrons how to use the computer can be challenging  Many are at different levels when it comes to experience and comfort with the machines. My goal is to identify problems that may occur and hopeful provide solutions librarians can use on a practical level.