Ernesta lives with her husband in Mafra and has been his main caregiver since he suffered a heart attack two years ago. They have two children, but they both live abroad. A nurse by profession, she has always been very active, but since retiring she has started to lead a more sedentary and solitary life. Her health has also been deteriorating since then, reducing her autonomy.
“Always being at home and being stationary has worsened my physical condition, I have more pain and less mobility. I always thought that when I retired I would be able to visit my children more often and I would have more time to go for walks and do my gardening, which I enjoy so much. But my health, and especially my husband’s, doesn’t allow it. He needs me full time.”
“Despite not feeling very comfortable with new technologies, Ernesta has a smartphone that she uses to read the news, look for new cooking recipes and, above all, to talk to her children and grandchildren. “I talk to my family every day via video call and I even have some applications that my children installed for me. I try to keep up and not fall behind in an increasingly digital world, but I find it increasingly difficult and realize that I can no longer keep up, no matter how hard I try.”
Digital Services
Ernesta knows that there are a set of digital services that could make her daily life easier, avoiding unnecessary travel – which costs her so much, both due to her increasing mobility limitations and the logistics of having to find someone to take care of her husband when she is away – , such as the bank application (to manage day-to-day payments), the hospital application (to book appointments and access medical reports) or even the supermarket’s online services (to comfortably receive purchases in home). But Ernesta doesn’t feel capable. “The images and texts are very small, I often make mistakes with the buttons, I don’t understand the number of different options to pay a simple supermarket bill, I can’t understand the vocabulary they use… It’s sad, but I no longer trust in my abilities to do these kinds of things on my own.”
“My children don’t understand and they even wanted to sign me up for a digital literacy course, but I know it’s not worth the effort of traveling and everything that entails, because my head can’t handle it anymore, these aren’t things that can be learned at this age.”
“Even though we are far away and despite having very full lives, I feel that my children are always worried about us and that, sooner or later, we will be a burden to them. A few weeks ago they started making our big purchases for the month online. I know it’s to help us and that the intention is the best, but I can’t even do that on my own anymore. I feel increasingly incompetent and useless. I know that it’s just life and I am perfectly aware that I am losing skills, but it is very sad that we depend on others, even if they are our children. It’s as if we ourselves ceased to exist as we always were.”
At the Tax and Customs Authority
Recently, Ernesta had to go to the Tax Office to present her husband’s Medical Certificate of Incapacity. Before moving, she tried to call the office to be sure of opening hours and to try to schedule an appointment, but she was never able to get them to answer the phone. “What seems like a simple trip is a huge headache, I get so anxious when I have these commitments that I can’t even sleep. I must find transport, I have to ask someone to take care of my husband, not to mention that it’s hard for me to walk, climb stairs… the truth is that my mobility is already very compromised”.
Upon arriving at the Tax Office, Ernesta found a digital ticket dispenser with countless options. Not knowing which one to choose, she tried to select General Service, but the display was unable to recognize the touch of her cold and dry fingers. When she realized that she was creating a queue behind her, she walked away and went to ask for help from a security guard who took her to the ticket dispenser and helped her get a priority ticket. After an hour and a half, it was Ernesta’s turn, but when she went to the counter, the employee told her that that service was now closed, only open until noon, and advised her next time to book the service in advance via sending a form available on the Tax Authority website, which she does not even have access to.
When she got home, tired and frustrated, she cried. “It’s very sad to reach this age and not even a simple issue in Tax Office can be resolved. There I will have to ask one of my children for help.”
Even with my reduced mobility, I wanted to continue being autonomous to manage my life and not depend on others all the time for things as simple as paying bills, making a doctor's appointment or even buying some gifts for the grandchildren.
Look Deeper
According to Eurostat, in the EU, 87 percent of people aged 75 years and over have never been online (2018).
96% of seniors over the age of 67 own a mobile phone, but under half own a smartphone (2014 numbers).
Seniors often struggle with reduced reactivity, making it harder to keep up with fast-paced technology.
9% of seniors at the age of 75 or over have severe visual impairments, and 18% have severe hearing limitations in the EU (Eurostat, 2017).
People worldwide are living longer. Today most people can expect to live into their sixties and beyond. Every country in the world is experiencing growth in both the size and the proportion of older persons in the population.
The pace of population ageing is much faster than in the past.
All countries face major challenges to ensure that their health and social systems are ready to make the most of this demographic shift.
Between 2015 and 2050, the proportion of the world’s population over 60 years will nearly double from 12% to 22%.
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