även - Nordens Välfärdscenter

ÖVERSÄTTNING: Magnus Gudnason
Information society and the elderly
In all of the Nordic countries, there are concrete plans
for digitalizing all communication between the citizens
and public authorities. The Nordic countries rank at
the top in Europe when it comes to Internet access,
but at the same time there are great variations in
Internet use, both individually and between age
groups.
Even though the number of Internet
users has risen sharply in
recent years, there are still many
senior citizens who do not use the
Internet, especially among the
oldest in the 75 years plus age
group. In the old days, a few
pennies in the pocket and a landline
phone were enough – soon it
will be a thing of the past. Today,
participation in digital society is a
prerequisite for a well-functioning
democracy.
This forms the basis for choosing
information society and the elderly
as our theme. In this booklet, one
can read about the situation today
and about the obstacles and
opportunities with regard to
Internet use among the elderly.
Many of them are eager users of
the Internet who create net communities
– something which in turn
leads to physical meeting places
and increased quality of life. In
particular, it leads to empowerment
that makes the elderly able to
participate on equal terms with
others in digital communication
with the authorities and in society
in general. It is all about including
the elderly in the information
society – and in order to succeed in
that, the elderly themselves must
be involved in the development
process.
Digital communication can be a
win-win situation for both public
authorities and the citizens themselves
– provided that everybody is
able to use information technology
and digital media. Simple universal
solutions that can be used by
everyone have top priority in
the current development of
public systems. Even though it
is expec ted that the group of old
people who do not use modern
information technology will become
smaller in the years to come, there
will still be a great many people
that will be unable to use information
technology. This may be due
to the use of IT not being part of
their everyday life and competencies
or due to the user interfaces
not being adapted to their capabilities.
Some lack resources to learn
how to use the new possibilities of
information technology in the same
way as old people with IT capabilities
may lose these due to agerelated
disabilities.
Many old people have nevertheless
learnt how to use the new
possibilities and benefit to a great
degree from information technology
in everyday life. This has
provided old people with new
opportunities to establish and keep
social contacts, use services to
support training and health status
as well as providing access to
knowledge, art and entertainment.
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NVC
anbefaler
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Fakta
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Fra
virkeligheten
4
Politikk
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Fra
forskning
6Internasjonalt
blikk
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Summary
Samantekt
Tiivistelmä
83
Tips