Beginning Our Care Home Digital Inclusion Project!
Thanks to the support of 100% Digital, we’ve managed to begin our digital inclusion work within care homes! On Friday the 3rd of November, we had our first care home digital session at Headingley Hall Care Home. This was a fantastic experience, as we gained an understanding of what is needed for the residents, and what we can do to meet their needs. Making use of our funding, we managed to secure 7 iPads that we can bring into each session and use for both demonstration and experimentation. We are hoping that weekly use of these iPads will help familiarise technology with the residents of this care home, and hopefully increase their digital skills.
We began our first session by asking our attendees to fill out a questionnaire all about their interests. This was a straightforward way of understanding how we could tailor our sessions to specific interests, such as reading or puzzles, instead of just focusing on the necessities. We are hoping that this means the residents can associate the sessions with joy, rather than stress or misunderstanding. We have found a common theme of fear amongst older adults when it comes to the digital world, which often leads to unnecessary stress and anxiety. We really want to dismantle these feelings, and instead, create feelings of excitement and interest amongst care home residents.
Moving on from the questionnaire, we talked through iPad usage, which really illuminated the level of digital exclusion faced by the residents. There was a general lack of understanding about what an iPad is/how to use it, so we spent the majority of the session talking through that. We also did a lot of one-on-one work, demonstrating what apps are, how to use them, and what they are for. It was really encouraging to see attendees enthusiastic after just one session, so we feel really positive about the direction of the sessions going forward. We are currently in the process of making a plan for next week’s session, focusing on Google Earth!
We are so excited to see how this project is going to go, and we’re setting up further sessions within other care homes around Leeds to help with the expansion of digital inclusion. It’s so important to encourage digital participation amongst older adults, and we’re honoured to be a part of the team who are making this happen!