Group items tagged

The ageing population and privatisation of social services (Rytkönen 1995) may also provide new Internet based business opportunities.

More than one third of households in Finland already have computers, and host to population ration is 88.11 per 100 000 habitants, the highest in the world (TELMO 1998)

The question remains, nonetheless, how capable or willing the elderly people, or their helpers, are to use ITC

In both these ways, it has the potential to promote longer working lives

political participation - electronic meetings and voting

FORESIGHT SECTOR AGEING POPULATION /ICT OPPORTUNITY

Research shows that only one out of three elderly people (over the age of sixty-five) are using the Internet. As a result, usability is a major issue. Vision along with hearing problems are a major contributor to the uneasiness many older adults feel. In direct correlation, this is one result of the many interfaces of the internet. Therefore, the demands of the new media on older adults are examined along with the physical and psychological changes older adults may have while using the Internet. Lastly, the article provides ideas on how changing interfaces on the internet will put older adults at a great advantage in the new media.

Older people frequently report problems with these tasks because of mobility issues, inconvenience, and fear of crime. Shopping, banking and even taking control of their health-care online, could improve these problems and allow seniors to play a more active role in their own social lives.

The common belief that older people fear or are indifferent towards technology does not fully explain this low usage.

First, the population of older people is increasing at an extraordinary rate.

People 45 and older will soon make up more than half the adult population