How to avoid digital aging for only the few

Why should grandparents visiting children and grandchildren in town be afraid to take the bus?

Chronicle
This is history. Opinions expressed in the text are at the author’s expense.

An age-friendly society should apply to all areas – including digital. A society in which the elderly are located abroad because they do not know how things work, or do not understand the benefits, is unacceptable.

600,000 Norwegians are not digital because they don’t own a smartphone, PC or tablet, or because they can’t use products.

Appears a report of the Norwegian jurisdiction, which was implemented earlier this year. This amounts to more than every ten Norwegian. People over the age of 60 are a group with weaker digital skills than the rest of the population.

Older adults report that they have needs other than average. But they also need to pay bills, buy a bus ticket, look up information, and keep in touch with family and friends. The latter is of great importance in preventing and reducing loneliness.

big win

We will stay home as long as possible. Luxury technology, or call it everyday technology, should help solve this problem. Then we must also ensure that users have gained digital knowledge, and that they feel safe and comfortable in the face of this technology.

By raising the digital competence of seniors, they will be self-sufficient in their homes for longer. Someone showed that 70 percent of those over the age of 76 used a digital care service during the pandemic check up Implemented by Svenskarna och internet. The age group is also the category with the largest number of new internet users.

Digitization is here to stay. It is important. It means innovation and new opportunities. We do not in any way want to turn back time. But digital solutions must work for everyone before other solutions are deleted.

confusing bills

Bus companies do not allow the use of cash and say it is an industrial situation under Corona. Transport and Communications Minister Knut Arild Hared (KrF) said there was no evidence in law against refusing cash payments. Oh, okay.

He still has a lady older than Ytre Arna Fine for lost ticket After the driver refused to accept the cash payment. It is also part of history that there is no ticket vending machine in the area. It also didn’t have an app.

The lady from Ytre Arna is not the only one who was charged because she was not able to buy a valid ticket. Group travel offerings are mostly based on apps that many seniors don’t have.

The stations do not have payment devices, and the driver does not accept payment. Why should grandparents visiting children and grandchildren in the city be afraid to take the bus?

Digital banking. Invoices come in the form of a Digipost, as an email, as a notification via SMS or in a group. The same bill in several places creates confusion.

Many seniors struggle to pay their bills even though they have used data at work in the past. Data-Geir from work doesn’t come home to retire. If you request that the invoice be sent to you on paper, you will have to pay around NOK 100 in the invoice fee.

Vaccine and radio

Many elderly people have had problems responding to the Covid vaccine offer because the offer is digital. The option card comes at Digipost. For those who do not have a digital mailbox, the card will be sent in paper. But you don’t know this until you search on Google. If you’re not online, you’re not on Google either.

– If I speak too fast, you have a chance to switch to NRK P1+. There they talk very slowly, said the host of the afternoon magazine on NRK P1 that day. He had received listeners’ complaints about the fast talk and confirmed that it was from P3 Al-Shabab channel.

Putting aside the stigma of P1+ listeners as slow, perhaps NRK’s ​​show is a good example of offering something to everyone, regardless of wants and needs.

I don’t know about offers

What if public digital services had options and were adapted to the needs of individual user groups?

The Ministry of Local Government and Modernization was developed, in cooperation with the Local Government Organization (KS) Digihjelpen. As of today, 59 municipalities are included in the scheme. voluntary organization Seniornet Offers computer training to its members.

In other words, there are some actions, but these services are unknown to those who really need them. Moreover, not only training is required. There are many who reject and deny the data. These must be motivated before you fall completely outside.

Services should be easy to use and relevant. Here, users of all age groups should be consulted when developing new services. someone working. Among others, DNB, which after a lot of criticism attracted the elderly in developing the payment service Vipps.

The role of the public sector

Norway’s public sector should lead by example and be the one who has user-adapted solutions, which users will be able to get.

We at the Council of Age Friendly Norway support and commend the government’s work with the inclusion strategy digital all your life. Here we expect more than kind words. There must be concrete measures and plans for implementation.

We are confident that the government formed after the elections will continue this work. quickly.

A digital educational portal for seniors should be created, as the goal should be to link supply and demand with basic ICT skills as easily as possible. There will be talk of customized course offerings collected in one place. Close cooperation with the business community will be able to contribute to new innovative solutions to bridge efficiency gaps, prevent exclusion and ensure sustainable growth.

NRK model possible

Digital municipal assistance yards for the elderly who need advice and assistance with public services are low-threshold services that can be set up in places where people travel. For example, in libraries.

New services should be developed to be more user friendly. Intuitive and relevant user experiences are essential to a good reception.

Can one imagine the NRK model where different solutions are presented to different needs? Not everyone needs all options, but we need to be able to choose solutions that adapt to ourselves.

Our main concern is those who do not follow. To avoid digital exclusion, a separate plan should be made for how to include those who are not digital today.

In the meantime – please provide a phone number where the stranded people can contact.