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The Future of Educating Older Adults. The Challenges of Health Literacy and Technology. SeniorLink – an all-inclusive program. Mission is to help older adults eligible for nursing home to live in the community Provide services that address needs: medical rehabilitative social
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The Future of Educating Older Adults The Challenges of Health Literacy and Technology
SeniorLink – an all-inclusive program • Missionis to help older adults eligible for nursing home to live in the community Provide services that address needs: • medical • rehabilitative • social • personal care through interdisciplinary team
Education at SeniorLink • Most are low-income and/or poorly educated • No specific resources allocated to education • Technology limited to Wii games and computer use for basic puzzle games and email Biggest obstacles to learning are motivation and basic ability to learn
Older adult education – literature review Impact of • history – Older Americans Act of 1965 -> senior center • demographics – impact of Baby Boomers • differences when compared to young people • future directions of technology
Older adult education – literature review Technology – cont’d • With time and one-on-one teaching, older adults can be taught to use technology (Lagan, 2011) • Racial/ethnic minority, poorly educated and low-income much less likely to use technology resulting in Worsening of gap in health literacy – (Kim et al, 2009)
Futuring – Improving Health Literacy at SL • Possible Scenario
Futuring – Effect of Health Literacy on SL Scanning technique
Vision for SeniorLink • All written and online materials written at 5th grade level • Dedicated personnel for improving health literacy • Dedicated personnel to teach use of computer/technology • one-on-one instruction, collaboration as possible • Facilities that embrace technology geared for older adults • Activities with focus on skill replace passive learning
Challenges and Opportunities • Challenges • Funding, funding, funding • Donated services, volunteer pool • Changing staff behavior • Pressure to go “fee for service” as Baby Boomers flood market • Opportunities • Make a difference • Increased confidence, self-efficacy, skills • Better health • Decrease health literacy gap
Preparing for scenario • Futuring– other PACE sites, state funding • Find outside funding sources • Donated servies, volunteer pool • Staff training
“Call To ACTION!” Futuring committee - trained in futuring • How to make SeniorLink desirable in future? • How to best serve current and future needs of clients? Education committee • All educational materials at 5th grade level • Internet search for health sites at 5th grade level
References • Bouck, C. (2013). The future of active-aging centers. The Journal of Active Aging, June(Special Collector's Edition), 46-51 • Dinitto, D. M., & Eysenbach, G. (2013). The Digital Divide Among Low-Income Homebound Older Adults: Internet Use Patterns, eHealth Literacy, and Attitudes Toward Computer/Internet Use. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 15(5), 1-1. • Khusainov, R., Azzi, D., Achumba, I. E., & Bersch, S. D. (2013). Real-time human ambulation, activity, and physiological monitoring: taxonomy of issues, techniques, applications, challenges and limitations. Sensors (Basel), 13(10), 12852-12902. doi: 10.3390/s131012852 • Kim, E.-H., Stolyar, A., Lober, B. W., Herbaugh, L. A., Shinstrom, E. S., Zierler, K. B., Kim, Y. (2009). Challenges to Using an Electronic Personal Health Record by a Low-Income Elderly Population. J Med Internet Res, 11(4), e44. • LaganÁ, L., Oliver, T., Ainsworth, A., & Edwards, M. (2011). Enhancing computer self-efficacy and attitudes in multi-ethnic older adults: a randomised controlled study. Ageing & Society, 31(6), 911-933. doi: 10.1017/S0144686X10001340 • Wiemeyer, J., & Kliem, A. (2011). Serious games in prevention and rehabilitation—a new panacea for elderly people? European Review of Aging and Physical Activity, 9(1), 41-50. doi: 10.1007/s11556-011-0093-x