Elderly people "left behind" in the digital age

  In 2020, there were fewer people on the street and more people on the Internet.

  The new crown pneumonia epidemic suddenly struck, and the health code and itinerary code were quickly rolled out. Online appointment has become the best solution for crowd gathering. Home office and online communication have become one of the choices of young people.

However, under the booming Internet technology, some elderly people were denied access to the car without a health code, some elderly people got up early in the morning and went to the hospital’s only elderly window to register on the spot, and some elderly people never left the community after the epidemic... They were forced to cut off from the society. Connection.

  Some scholars believe that society has accelerated the use of Internet technology either actively or passively, and it should do its best to fill the "digital divide" facing the elderly.

  On November 24 last year, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Implementation Plan on Effectively Solving the Difficulties of the Elderly in Using Intelligent Technology", proposing to concentrate efforts to promote the protection of various traditional services by the end of 2020, and to promote the elderly to enjoy intelligent services by the end of 2021 It is more common and traditional service methods are more perfect.

By the end of 2022, online and offline services will be more efficient and coordinated, and a long-term mechanism for solving the "digital divide" faced by the elderly will be basically established.

  “Friendly cities for the elderly should eliminate barriers to the elderly’s participation in family, community, and social life, and provide them with a safe, convenient, and risk-avoidable social environment.” Experts believe that China, as a developing country and the country with the largest elderly population, has public policies From temperature to system, a longer-term system arrangement should be realized.

Forced to "Internet"

  Regularly prescribe medication from Beijing Sixth Ring Road in Changping to the Chengli Hospital. When entering the door, a visitor information scan code registration, a health code scan code registration, 64-year-old Li Aiying (pseudonym) is always stuck.

  I stood at the door for less than ten minutes, but I still couldn't find Beijing Healthbao.

In the end, the mobile phone is often handed over to the hospital staff for operation.

"I took my finger and slid down on WeChat. The red tower (icon) of the health treasure did not come out, and I kept taking screenshots." Li Aiying smiled embarrassedly.

  In the past year, the "health code" has become a standard configuration under the new crown pneumonia epidemic.

  On February 11 last year, Hangzhou took the lead in piloting the dynamic management of "green, red, and yellow" three-color codes. By the end of the month, the national government service platform launched the "epidemic prevention and health information code", which can gather health, civil aviation, railways, etc. through real-name authentication. Data to determine whether it is a confirmed patient, suspected patient, or close contact with new coronary pneumonia.

  The "Health Code" borrowed efficient information technology to build an effective "prevention and control network", but it has also become a last resort for many elderly people.

  In July last year, an old man with hearing impairment in Dalian subway station failed to show his health code as required to enter the station and had a dispute with the staff; in August, an old man in Harbin, Heilongjiang took a bus and could not scan the health code because he did not have a mobile phone. Being stopped by the driver...

  After the outbreak, similar incidents occurred frequently. Seeing these news on TV, Li Aiying felt more empathetic.

  Every day, many elderly people will go to the supermarket as early as possible to buy special dishes.

During the epidemic, entering the door to display the health code became a routine inspection.

"Why can't this health treasure of me go up?" An old man took a mobile phone to operate it for a long time to no avail.

If you haven’t used it for a long time, you need to log in again.

  Names, IDs, face recognition, places visited within 14 days, fever and cough... a series of operations stopped them from the door.

A paper registration form was placed on the desk at the door. Like many elderly people, Li Aiying chose to use a pen to leave information in the paper registration form.

  Under the epidemic, the wider application of Internet technology has exposed and magnified the discomfort of the elderly facing digital life.

According to a report from the China Internet Network Information Center, from March to June last year, the proportion of elderly Internet users aged 60 and above in China rose from 6.7% to 10.3%.

This means that 34 million old people in China have become Internet users in just three months.

  Zhou Yuqiong, a professor at the School of Communication of Shenzhen University, who has long been engaged in the study of elderly communication, believes that the epidemic has forced many elderly people to go online.

  In the third month of taking the medicine, a young man at the entrance of the hospital taught Li Aiying, "On the WeChat interface, I need a finger to pull down from the screen at the same time." The Beijing Healthbao applet appeared in the list.

The smart gesture operation requirements on the mobile phone, how many fingers, where and how to slide from, are more complicated than she imagined.

gap

  Li Aiying's first smartphone was bought by her only daughter when she got married in 2016.

  "I usually have a lot of hobbies, clay sculpture, stone carving, paper-cutting... I have no time to play with mobile phones." Li Aiying has always only used push-button phones. In her opinion, calling and texting can meet all needs, but smart phones are immersive. Lost life and normal emotional communication between people in the virtual world.

  Until four years ago, when his daughter married and moved to a new home in Chaoyang District, young people who were busy with work did not come back once a month.

My spouse can use his smartphone to see what her new daughter is doing. The new home adds a new home, the young couple goes abroad to play, and the cooking skills improve to make a good table... "Everyone else has it, but I don't have it." Li Aiying acted like a baby, daughter I bought her new domestic products from that year.

The connection with her daughter seems to be back again.

  With the arrival of new mobile phones, Li Aiying slowly accepted smartphones, learning how to add friends, send messages, and browse Moments.

But there are always some "digestive indigestion" for new network technology.

  At the end of the follow-up visit, Li Aiying stood at the entrance of the hospital, carrying a bag of medicine prescribed by the doctor and beckoning to take a taxi, and stood for another half an hour.

Li Aiying didn't understand why the taxi didn't want to stop because there was no one in it. When I went to the supermarket to buy food in the morning and forgot to bring my wallet, Li Aiying hurriedly "escaped" from the queue waiting for checkout. In the fourth year of changing her smartphone, she I don’t dare to use my mobile phone to scan the QR code to pay; I go to the bank’s business hall to get my pension at a fixed time every month, but the windows for handling business are opening and the line is getting longer.

  The gap between Li Aiying and the intelligent society is a common problem faced by the elderly.

  Li Zhiyong, member of the Standing Committee of the Professional Committee for the Investigation of Social Conditions for the Elderly of the Qingdao Academy of Gerontology, still remembers that an 80-something-year-old man failed to unlock his fingerprint five times in a row, and his cell phone was disabled for 30 seconds.

As a result, the fingerprint unlocking function is ordered by many elderly people to disable it on their mobile phones, and sometimes the password is not remembered, so it is the most convenient to use it without setting anything.

  Compared with the younger generation, the elderly are often afraid of the online world, which makes it difficult for them to enter the new media space.

  "Aging is an instilled concept. The weakness, helplessness, and illness of the elderly are often a kind of learned helplessness, not an inevitable physiological process," Zhou Yuqiong discovered, "Learned helplessness makes some elderly people When they know very little about mobile phones, they deny themselves, “I don’t know anything about this thing,” people can’t remember so many things when they are old, “it’s good to remember that you can eat and drink by yourself,” they said. The new life represented is opposed to the accustomed daily life, (playing with mobile phones) seems to be doing nothing.

  According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2019, the number of people over 60 in my country had reached 254 million, accounting for 18.1% of the total population.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs previously disclosed that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the nation's elderly population will exceed 300 million, entering a moderately aging population.

The population structure is getting more and more "old".

  Among the elderly, there are still a few who are exposed to the Internet.

According to the "Statistical Report on China's Internet Development Status" released by the China Internet Network Information Center in September last year, as of June 2020, the number of Internet users in my country reached 940 million, of which 10.3% were Internet users aged 60 and above.

This means that even if 34 million elderly Internet users have surged in three months, there are still more than 157 million elderly who have never been exposed to the Internet.

  In the information society, they are often referred to as "digital refugees."

"Be sure to teach me to make video calls"

  "Just like Brooks, the prison librarian in "Shawshank's Redemption", was released from prison. In the face of a disjointed and rapidly changing society, the elderly are helpless and desperate." Four years ago, Li Zhiyong, who was still in college, participated in "teaching the elderly to play "Mobile phone" community service project.

Among the elderly in the community he has counseled, nearly a quarter can't even type on a mobile phone.

  Among his clients, 73-year-old Grandpa Zhang also has an only daughter, who married outside the province a few years ago.

What impressed him most was that many elderly people gradually couldn't sit still during the hour-long mobile phone class. After the meeting, only Grandpa Zhang walked up to Li Zhiyong alone, and in a pleading tone, "You must teach me to make a video call."

  Grandpa Zhang took out the notes he just made in class and tried again and again according to the steps.

I couldn't find my daughter's WeChat account, I couldn't find the voice button when I entered the chat interface, and I couldn't return to the "shoot" button on the wrong side... "Almost every step that can cause problems is wrong," Li Zhiyong was a little bit dumbfounded.

After half an hour, Grandpa Zhang finally dialed the video call, and he did it all over again to consolidate his memory.

Before leaving, Li Zhiyong set his daughter's WeChat account to the top for Grandpa Zhang.

  A few days later, Li Zhiyong received a message from Grandpa Zhang, "I made a video call to my daughter and met my 1-year-old grandson. Thank you young man."

  Similar mobile phone training courses are gradually being promoted throughout the country.

During the Double Ninth Festival last year, the Beijing Association for the Elderly proposed to organize the "I teach the elderly to use mobile phones" activity to allow family members and the general public to participate in teaching the elderly to use smartphones; Nanjing Civil Affairs, Health and Health and other departments are incomplete Statistics show that more than 700 senior universities in Nanjing have opened smart phone training courses, which train tens of thousands of students every year.

  "Elderly digitization needs to span three processes, digital access back feeding, digital skill back feeding and digital literacy back feeding." Zhou Yuqiong said.

  The Smart Health Aging Research Center of Qingdao University established a special student association in 2018 to cooperate with the community on a voluntary service project of "Playing with you on your mobile phone", serving a total of 3,000 elderly people.

Zhu Lihua, head of the research center, said, “Family is often the first stop for'digital backfeeding', and the elderly who are missing from this stop often need companionship more.”

  With the assistance of Zhu Lihua, Li Zhiyong compiled mobile learning materials, which are still used in the community.

There are seven chapters in the textbook from Wi-Fi, camera and video, convenient functions, WeChat operation, security and privacy, mobile payment and mobile shopping.

  Zhou Yuqiong believes that the generational gap surrounding mobile phones is more manifested in the collision of digital thinking and traditional thinking, and the challenge of digital lifestyle to traditional lifestyle.

“It’s not enough to lead the door directly. Old people’s lack of digital thinking makes the Internet they experience different from what young people feel. Even if the numbers are integrated, it will bring about the result of digital differentiation.” Zhou Yuqiong said .

Break the digital divide

  Zhou Yuqiong's "digital segmentation" has become increasingly prominent with the promotion of digital technologies such as face recognition and cashless payment.

  The 94-year-old was activating the social security card, and his family picked it up at the bank to pass the facial recognition authentication; the old man used cash in the rain to pay for medical insurance and was rejected; as early as two years ago, a 90-year-old old man was required to pay the social security annual review. Fingerprint registration and photo identification must be present in person, and there is no elevator to be lifted to the third floor by family members. In the bank's business lobby, on the retirement day, old people who are accustomed to using cash form a long line in front of the manual window with their passbooks.

  The plight of the elderly in the digital age has frequently appeared in media reports since last year.

But in the face of "technology" and "machines", the elderly have chosen "silence".

Speaking of the difficulties encountered in the fast-developing intelligent age, the elderly interviewed attributed it to themselves, "cannot keep up with the times" and "trouble everyone".

  Lu Jiehua, a professor of sociology at Peking University, believes that "Science and Technology for Good" is not just a slogan. Enterprises should assume social responsibility and promote the ageing of products and services.

"Policy makers and technology developers will one day get old. It is not just families, communities, and social organizations. Digital feedback is the responsibility of the entire society."

  In November last year, Wuxi Railway Station put out a conspicuous notice: problems such as old people's phones, mobile phones without electricity, no WeChat, inability to operate, no mobile phones, etc., resulted in no health codes, and there were special channels to solve them.

This notice has attracted numerous praises.

Some netizens commented that the temperature of a city is reflected in how she treats those few forgotten.

  In fact, as early as September 20 last year, Wuxi Railway Station began to implement this system.

According to Hu Zhiguang, head of the Wuxi Railway Station New Crown Pneumonia Epidemic Prevention and Control Team, in the entire passenger traffic, no mobile phones, only elderly mobile phones, and no WeChat accounted for a relatively large amount, accounting for about 1/8 to 1/7 of the total traffic. More than two thousand people.

  “If you don’t have a mobile phone, you can check relevant information through your ID card; if you use an elderly phone, volunteers will scan the code with their smart phone and verify it on your behalf; if you don’t have electricity, you will provide temporary charging.” Hu Zhiguang said.

  Subsequently, more and more regions have successively introduced humanized health code verification policies.

  Beijing can check the health status by swiping ID card, social security card, and pension card; Guangzhou has issued notices for medical treatment, and there is no health code available for paper certificates; Heilongjiang ID cards, paper certificates, and communication itinerary cards can be substituted, and gradually realize "card swiping" or "Sweeping face" is common; Qinghai has developed and launched functions such as "Xinkang Code" and "Xinkang Code Wristband" on the basis of the realization of "Xinkang Code" nationwide one-code communication...

  During the epidemic, the public felt that the outstanding health code presented a problem, because the Wuxi Railway Station took one more step and it was solved better, which caused warm ripples.

Soon, the difficulty in using smart technology for the elderly was responded to at the national level.

From temperature to system

  On November 24 last year, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Implementation Plan on Effectively Solving the Difficulties of the Elderly in the Use of Intelligent Technology", focusing on 7 types of high-frequency matters and service scenarios involving travel, medical treatment, consumption, entertainment, and service in the daily life of the elderly. It is proposed to adhere to the parallel of traditional service methods and intelligent service innovation, and promote the resolution of the difficulties encountered by the elderly in using intelligent technology.

Before the end of 2020, we will concentrate our efforts to ensure that all traditional services are in place.

  Subsequently, the General Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Office of the National Cultural Heritage Administration issued a notice stating that cultural venues and tourist attractions should not be denied access to the elderly because they cannot access the "health code" because they do not have a smartphone; Under the premise, it is possible to arrange for the elderly to register with valid certificates such as ID cards and old age certificates, and take effective measures to strengthen the protection of personal information.

  The Ministry of Transport and other departments issued a notice requiring that in areas with a low risk of new crown pneumonia, except for special places such as automobile passenger terminals, passenger terminals, civil transportation airports, and entry and exit ports, there is generally no need to check the "health code".

In situations where the "health code" needs to be checked, the "health code" must not be used as the only pass for personnel.

  Starting from January of this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will carry out a one-year "Special Action for Internet Applications to Adapt to Ageing and Accessibility" across the country. The first batch will complete 115 public service websites and 43 mobile apps for ageing and accessibility. change.

  "The current construction of a friendly society for the elderly should be based on the construction of heavy hardware such as equipment suitable for the elderly. In terms of social and people's livelihood construction, the establishment of public policies more embodies age tolerance, embodying respect for the elderly and loving the elderly." Lu Jiehua believes that China is a developing country and an elderly population. In most countries, the growth rate of the elderly will be faster in 2022, and public policies should also be changed from temperature to system to achieve a longer-term institutional arrangement.

  Lu Jiehua pointed out, “The age-friendliness in the digital age does not depend on urban areas and high-end income groups, but more importantly, how to balance rural areas, low-income groups, and whether public policies can treat each other fairly, achieve intergenerational harmony, and promote social equity.” Lu Jiehua believes that the goal of establishing a friendly city for the elderly is to eliminate the barriers for the elderly to participate in family, community, and social life, and to provide the elderly with a safe and convenient social environment to avoid risks.

  The World Health Organization’s “Guidelines for the Construction of Friendly Cities for the Elderly” proposed that the construction of friendly cities for the elderly is divided into eight main areas: outdoor space and architecture, transportation, shelter, social participation, respect and social inclusion, community participation and employment, and information Communication, community support and health services.

  "In fact, the digital age is renewing the definition of the elderly." Lu Jiehua said that age is just a number symbol and does not mean the decline of physical functions. The 254 million elderly people are not converging.

"With the increase in life expectancy, people begin to have'aging procrastination'. The more psychological age determines that the elderly have a high learning momentum and can adapt to the digital age."

  Beijing News reporter Ma Jinqian