David Wilcox's List: dtolder

"Get Involved At Spots of Time we want to make it really easy for you to give a spot of your time to make a diference near you.  So just click an activity below that you like the look of - choose a time, date and location that works for you - and book it

Giving time with us is completely flexible - you don't have to make a long term commitment or have a CRB check (though we're happy to help you do this if you'd like to), and you can even invite friends to join you on facebook, twitter or by email.  We'll confirm your placement by email and send you the details you need to take part. "

This site gives older people's voices a platform. We hope to highlight their experiences, resilience and ability to flourish across a century of huge change. And we want to find out what they can teach us about mutual support and positive thinking.

"Older people have the lowest levels of internet-take up, in stark contrast to highly connected younger age groups. For the digitally excluded, a number of barriers can compound each other, from cost to ability to interest. This research finds that universal internet take-up won't be achieved overnight, but nevertheless investing in the digitally excluded has long term benefits for both citizens and government."

""The potential of iPads to benefit seniors cannot be understated," Dan Cohen, a social worker who founded Apps for All, writes via E-mail. "To my surprise (and delight!), the most beneficial aspect of apps is the creation of a new common ground between older persons, their children, and their grandchildren ... The key to success with the iPad is to identify apps of interest to seniors, not razzle-dazzling them with one's favorite apps. What is (or was) their favorite hobby, interest, sport? Zoom into Google Earth's aerial view, or Mapquest's street view of their childhood home and school and you'll bring a smile to their face.""

"The erosion of social capital, and increasing levels of social isolation are widely recognised phenomena in our society. Older people are particularly likely to admit to feeling lonely, and social isolation is known to have a significant impact on older people's physical and mental wellbeing. Many older people particularly value local services that provide them with opportunities for regular social contact. However, we are currently witnessing a significant decline in many of these local services such as libraries, post offices and lunch clubs. More than 2,500 post offices have closed and 5,000 small shops have disappeared in the past six years. At the same time, many statutory and third sector services are currently under threat from local authority budgetary cuts.
The private sector could do much to provide non-specialised local settings and opportunities for older people to remain connected with their communities. However, thus far there has been little investigation into how private companies might contribute to social cohesion in this way. This project will identify ways that private companies can make use of their local presence and existing operating models to generate new social opportunities for older people."

"The Age Action Alliance is an independent partnership of organisations which has adopted a new approach to the challenges of ageing, focused very clearly on finding practical solutions to improve the lives of older people."

"A plan to create an online "knowledge base" of resources relating to digital inclusion for older people is being drawn up by Age Action Alliance, an umbrella group of companies and charities led by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The alliance, whose members include the BBC, Microsoft, mobile network Three, Age UK and the digital inclusion charity for older people Digital Unite, has tasked a working group with drawing up a "starter strategy" for the knowledge base covering its potential usefulness, purpose and viability. It will then make a final decision on whether to go ahead with the project at the next meeting of its digital inclusion group in February."

"This is the place to get up to speed with the technology that can help enrich your life.  Whether you'd like to improve your computer skills, emailing, use of the internet or generally to boost your digital confidence, our simple guides are here to help. They're free, print-friendly and also a great way to support other learners."

"AN ARMY of internet-savvy pensioners should be employed to help get millions of elderly people online to prevent them becoming increasingly isolated, an influential Tory think tank has suggested."
The report is from Policy Exchange

"As patients' interaction with the health service increasingly moves online, it is easy to assume that the voices of the elderly will be lost along the way.

But in this week's Scrubbing Up, Dr Paul Hodgkin of the feedback site Patient Opinion, says social media channels are not just for the young."

Anecdotes and discussion in the Manchester United forum

"This report has been written to complement the State of the Art Literature Review on Older People and the Internet, commissioned by Nominet Trust and published in October 2011. We have been particularly motivated to consider directions in which activity and policy should move in order to help ensure that as many older people as possible can become successful internet users. To help reflect on our own experiences of working in the field of older people and ICT and to distil these experiences into the opinions expressed in this report, we spoke to over 15 older technology users of varying levels of experience. We make no attempt to present this consultation as engaging with a representative sample of older people, but instead use this engagement to provoke our own thoughts into the directions where research and policy might best be headed. We also spoke to a number of senior research colleagues working in the same field, and while their views are reflected in some of the content of this report, ultimately what we present is our own articulation of the challenges we face and the directions we can take."

This publication sets out the latest research into how the internet is, and can be, used to support those over 65 as well as highlighting the mechanisms, themes and social situations that best enable this group to benefit from the internet. By doing so, it sets out a number of ways in which we can look to develop new approaches to supporting people over the age of 65 to get online in a sustained and meaningful way.

Ideas for how technology can help older people stay active, stay in touch, stay informed, stay productive, be entertained.