Technology offers massive potential for tackling the problems faced by too many older people. It can help deliver better and more focussed services including those which help tackle isolation; poverty; and exclusion; whilst at the same time play a part in helping improve the health of older people.
As a result, we as a society are missing the real opportunity which technology offers and as a result, older people are becoming more rather than less excluded as a result of the way technology is changing our lives and the public services we rely on. A survey we conducted last year revealed that more than 3 million older people (36 per cent) feel out of touch with the fast pace of modern life.
Digital Divide
Only around one in five over 65s have ever used the internet. Most of concern is that the figures for over 65s has not increased over the past 3 years. The most recent figures actually show a fall. This highlights two issues – firstly that the market alone is not and will not deliver internet access for older people and secondly, that we cant just ignore this issue and hope it eventually solve itself. If we look at most other modern media technologies we see a similar pattern of usage – ie it declines with age.
The digital divide is not of course just one which faces older people; the other significant digital divide in the UK is that of social class. Clearly therefore older people in the socio-economic groups are likely to be amongst the most disadvantaged. They are also likely to be those who are most in need of public services.
The Challenges for e-Government
It is worth noting that the challenges which I set out below are potentially going to become more and more important to tackle. When only two people had a telephone it had limited value. From about the time around 50% of the population had access, it became more and more difficult to get things done if you didn’t have access.
The first challenge is one of accessibility. It is an absolute scandal that significant numbers of public websites are still not meeting basic accessibility standards. Recent research for the Cabinet Office as part of their e-accessibility project, has highlighted that only 3% of European public websites meet the WC3 web content accessibility guidelines. 70% completely fail; 17% partially fail and only 10% limited pass. This is despite the fact that inaccessible websites potentially breach the Disability Discrimination Act.
For hundreds of years we have been designing houses which are inaccessible to many older and disabled people. It seems we are making the same mistake with technology despite the changing demography. The industry and Government has to act on this issue and act quickly.
Continuing to deliver non technology based services
Last year, the Cabinet Office, in their “Service Design and Delivery guide” argued that “public authorities should consider ways of compelling people to use some e-services”. We have seen the Gershon Review; the continuing desire to use technology to deliver efficiency savings and Government moving more and more services online. If you look through the five year plans set out by Government departments last year one thing keeps coming up – everyone wants a website “employee direct”; “virtual tourism high street” etc.
Just over a year ago, the DTI stopped producing a large number of employment rights leaflets in a printed form – at a saving of a few hundred thousand pounds. At a time when we are encouraging older people to work longer and where we are about to see legislation on age discrimination in employment, it seems a strange decision. Citizens Advice estimated that if someone wanted to print these out in their library they may now cost the consumer around £6.
In the private sector we are also seeing cuts to non internet based services. It used to be the case that the major supermarkets offered telephone shopping. Over the last two years, all have stopped the practice – a victim to the undoubted success of internet shopping with the real loser being those isolated older people who have lost out on a service which was vital to them.
The learning opportunities
At the same time that technology is becoming more and more ubiquitous, we are seeing a decrease in the opportunities for older people to learn to use such technologies. Increasingly, learning opportunities are moving online – not much use if you don’t have a computer. The recent Ofcom work on media literacy powerfully highlighted how media literacy falls with age.
We also have the BBC Digital Curriculum – a very welcome development but not if it results in a reduction of mainstream provision for older people. We want to see Alvin Hall running money management programme for older people not just featuring 30 year olds who cant manage their £40,000 salary. Much of the focus of BBC’s learning content over recent years has been younger people – the successes of GCSE bitesize and CBBies highlight this fact.
Government must also be criticised here. Over the recent times we have seen significant cuts to the Adult and Continuing education budgets. The Association of Colleges has estimated that this will result in major hikes in course costs for older people and a cut to the number of courses.
If the Government sees UK online centres as being a tool for tackling the exclusion of older people through the delivery of internet access and support, they must put their money where their mouth is. The UK online centres were given significant set up funding. They spent the first year setting the centres up and developing processes and then spent from year 2 onwards, attempting to raise funding to keep courses going and centres open. As a result they have never really been able to focus on targeting support at the most deprived groups.
Over recent years we have seen positive developments in the way older people are increasingly being given responsibilities to make a whole range of choices about what they want from public services. Through direct payments in care, older people are being empowered to choose the care package they need rather than rely on the standard service offered by a local authority. If this is to work older people must be supported so that the most vulnerable, who will most benefit from such initiatives, will have the capacity to make such decisions on an informed basis.
Cheaper and better services
A final challenge for Government and public service providers is the assumption that new technology will deliver both cheaper and better services for everyone. Because of the digital divide and the lower levels of access to technology by older people, government will be forced to produce exceptions services for those who cant cope with the new technology. Aside from the fact that any exceptions service is likely to be demeaning to participants, they will almost always be more expensive to deliver than other services. Last year for example, the Government moved older people onto direct payments for their benefits. In effect older people had to use a bank account or Post Office Card Account rather than have a benefit book. The Government did offer an alternative cheque payment service but the cost of each cheque is around £1.35 each compared to the £1.10 cost per payment of the old system.
So what should Government do
Government has recognised that their remains a digital divide – they did so in their “digital strategy” published last year. However, the strategy all but ignores older people and its flagship policy goal of ending the digital divide for families with children by the end of the third term is one of the least ambitious targets (given that 93% of 14-19 years old already use the internet) Government has ever come up with!
Government has committed itself to reviewing the digital divide in 2008. If e-government services are to be used by older people they must review the divide now and set an ambitious target to increase the number of over 65 and over 75 year olds using the internet. The market wont tackle the digital divide alone so government must act. Government must give someone in Government responsibility for tackling digital inclusion through the creation of a “digital inclusion directorate”.
Finally, Government has a real opportunity to tackle the digital divide through the recent decision to switch off the analogue television signal between 2008 and 2012. As a result all older people will find themselves with access to a digital box which could have so much potential. Eventually people will be able to apply for benefits online; get good quality health information; interact with friends, neighbours and other communities of interest; watch and participate in chair based exercises at home by pressing the red button; and finding out when their bins will be emptied over Christmas. However, if Government doesn’t work together we will end up with a couple of million older people being given a set top box with basic functionality. Digital TV offers a real opportunity for Government in terms of delivering services to older people and if they miss it they will regret it.
Autor(en)/Author(s): David Sinclair
Quelle/Source: eGov monitor, 17.07.2006
