Abstract:

Average life expectancy has been gradually rising in recent years. According to Eurostat projections, European Union population will continue to age, with the percentage of people over 65 years old rising from 19.2% in 2016 to 30% in 2060, while that of older people over 80 will evolve from 5.4% to 12.1% over the same period. On the other hand, the advent of the Information Society is part of our daily life and radically changes the models of organization and functioning of societies. The challenges and the new possibilities created with the introduction of the new digital tools and computational resources cannot be ignored. However, every new technology created by man brings with it a high power of inclusion or exclusion. In this context, there have been some social changes. Traditionally, the new generations learned almost everything from their elders. With the development of new technologies, this situation has changed, because the generation of the elderly has admittedly some limitations in this area. On the other hand, cognitive abilities such as memory, reasoning, and speed of information processing decrease with age and, in this sense, learning new things can be more difficult. Although learning the use of new technologies is often not considered important, there are already tools, unknown to most older people, which can be very useful in emergency situations, like the ones related to health problems. Their use can be a guarantee of elderly safety and health. On the other hand, specific training activities can help reduce the decline of cognitive processes and improve the way older people perform their daily activities. This paper analyzes how technologies can be used by seniors to promote quality of life, both to combat loneliness and promote wellbeing, using available useful tools to guarantee the safety and health of the elderly particularly those with mobility problems. From the bibliographic research that studies and documents the relationship of the older with technology and the personal experience of teaching Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to seniors, we present methodologies and tools that can provide the elderly with the skills to take advantage of the potential of technology and exercise easy and efficiently full citizenship. It is important that seniors continue to learn, motivating them by the demonstration of the usefulness of tools, services, and learning opportunities that can enhance their independence and quality of life. Developing new learning opportunities and activities, as well as providing information about them is, therefore, important because it enables the elderly to be motivated to participate in a new kind of useful learning, both for the elderly and for society.

Keywords:

Technologies, seniors, useful tools and services, learning opportunities.