ICT acceptance – the perspective of older persons

Nena GeorgantziLegal Officer

Carenet Conference - 26th February 2014Brussels, Belgium

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AGE Platform Europe

Guiding Principles

• Towards a society of all ages: Promote inter- and intra- generational solidarity

• Older people as a resource: take into account the cultural and professional resource represented by older people

• Older people as self-advocates: older people should be able to speak on their own behalf

For a society for all ages

Age-Friendly Environments (AFE):

• play a crucial role in enabling older people to remain healthy and actively involved in their communities

• help lower the disability threshold and influence positively the number of years one can expect to spend in good health (HLYs)

• are based on concept of Design-for-All that help respond to the needs of all age groups in fair and sustainable ways

The framework• CoE Recommendation on the promotion of human rights of

older persons (2014)

10. Older persons should have the possibility to interact with others and to fully participate in social, cultural and education and training activities, as well as in public life.

• European Charter of the rights and responsibilities of older people in need of long-term care and assistance (2010)

6-4 You have the right to equal access to new technologies and to learning and support in how to use them

• Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (2012)

40(b). Encourage and promote literacy, numeracy and technological skills training for older persons…

Ethical principles

• Affordability• Accessibility• Privacy• Non-maleficence

What matters to older people?

Some results from the Qualitative Study of the Home Sweet Home project

•18 people interviewed

•3 pilot sites (ES, IE, BE)

•3 use case analysis

“Older people are a totally heterogeneous group and that is a vital point to learn.

You have those who continue to decide on their daily living and those who at the

same age have given up. You have those who will grasp the tele-control and flick

through the channels and those who leave it in the drawer preferring to push the

button”.

Angela Cluzel, AGE Expert on the occasion of the AALIANCE Final Conference, Malaga, March 2010

Who are older people?

Is there an ideal older ICT user?

“I grow old learning something new

every day”Solon (c.639BC –

c.559BC)

Do I need it?

Can I afford it?

Can I use it?

Can I trust it?

How will it change my life?

“It’s like those little gifts that you receive from somebody and that you can’t put away but that you find terribly ugly”.

Participant from Antwerp

The importance of eSkills

Without good links to where people live, without bus, train, taxi and other

community transport it could mean we have provided housing suitable for older

people to remain within, but we have simply put them in a well-equipped prison.

Peter RaynerHousing Adaptations Scotland Conference – 2013

AGE Platform EuropeRue Froissart 1111040 Bruxelles – Belgique

Contact person: Nena GeorgantziE-mail: nena.georgantzi@age-platform.eutel. : +32.2.280.14.70fax : +32.2.280.15.22www.age-platform.eu