Internet in Care Homes
I recently heard of a scheme being tried in Gloucestershire care homes in which residents are being pair up with ‘Pen Pals’ in order to help combat loneliness. I thought it was a good idea but then considered the time it would take to turn around correspondence in this manner. I mean the internet has made corresponding so much more efficient than traditional pen and paper, so why not encourage residents in care homes to use the internet?
Both of my Grand Mother’s are care home residents, different homes in different towns and it was only when I was pondering this internet idea that I realised that their care homes do not have public computers with internet access for then to use. I know that care homes residents are typically elderly and/or maybe suffer from conditions like Dementia but that doesn’t mean some of the other residents couldn’t try and benefit from using the internet more.
I imagine a lot of care homes may have these facilities but I’d be prepared to bet it is much less than half of them. Basic e-mail is generally user-friendly, social networking sites are more complicated but I’m sure that there are many care home residents would find it interesting and beneficial. E-mails are quicker than general letters by general mail. Users could exchange several correspondence daily as opposed to waiting several days.
While on the subject of the internet, I am a huge fan of the internet. I have to say, I’ve become very dependant on it, in the home and at work. If I need to know something now, I’m more likely to hope on the computer and look it up than I am asking someone or looking in a book. I was looking on the internet to see if I could find out if there were many care homes that had internet access but I couldn’t find anything conclusive. There are several care home sites available, one in particular caught my eye www.comparecarehomes.com they had quite a lot of information on their advice pages.
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