Recommended Reading丨In the digital age, how to prevent the elderly from “dropping out”

As my country's elderly population continues to grow and digital life application scenarios are increasingly broadened, the elderly group's demand for "connection to the Internet" is also increasing. How to help the elderly bridge the digital divide and use digital technology to enable the elderly to enter old age healthily has become an important issue in the digital era.

To help the elderly group integrate into digital life, what measures has Hebei Province launched and what results have been achieved? To achieve healthy aging, how can information and communication technology play a better role?

On May 17, at the entrance of a business hall of China Unicom, Hebei Unicom staff were providing elderly care services.

Dedicated line and dedicated seat services

Help the elderly enjoy the Internet safely and securely

“I heard that one person pays and the whole family enjoys the rate. After doing this, you no longer have to worry about downtime. Should you do this online or go to a business office?" Recently, Zhang Suhua, a 70-year-old Xingtai citizen, contacted the customer service of Xingtai Mobile without going through too many tedious button selections. , and received a satisfactory reply. Zhang Suhua said that she used to feel that she was getting older and did not want to touch her mobile phone. Now, she often uses her mobile phone to surf the Internet and video chat with her children. If she doesn't understand the telecommunications business, she can directly ask the customer service staff, which is very convenient.

Currently, although many elderly people want to integrate into digital life, they lack the motivation to learn intelligent technology knowledge due to fear of difficulties, trouble, and lack of guidance. In order to help the elderly better apply smart technology, the communications industry in our province has launched a series of practical measures, using heart and soul online and offline to continuously improve the elderly's sense of gain, happiness, and security.

Dedicated line service. The Provincial Communications Administration Bureau organized telecom companies to set up 923 special seats for aging-friendly manual service hotlines. Mobile phone users over 65 years old who call the customer service hotline enjoy priority access and are directly transferred to manual customer service. Elderly users are served an average of 563,000 times per month.

Specialized service. More than 2,500 business halls across the province have upgraded caring services, set up special seats for the elderly, established a WeChat group for elderly users, and taught the elderly step-by-step how to handle telecommunications services online. Shijiazhuang China Unicom's Guang'an Street business hall is surrounded by many old communities, and the majority of customers entering the hall are elderly. The business hall regularly carries out the "Senior Carefree, Charity Helping the Elderly" activities, and holds small classes to help the elderly in the hall to guide the elderly in the use of smart phones. cell phone. There is also a barrier-free passage for the elderly outside the hall. There are special seats for the elderly and a love post in the hall. Reading glasses, first aid medicine, charging equipment, etc. are provided for the convenience of the elderly.

Door-to-door service. For the elderly who cannot do business online and are inconvenient to go to offline business halls, basic telecommunications companies also provide door-to-door services. "Auntie, look, I have written down on paper how to use China Unicom TV and mobile video. You can follow the steps so that you will not forget it." After installing broadband for a 77-year-old man living alone at home, Qinhuangdao Peng Lili, China Unicom Lulong County North District Integrated Grid Channel Manager, specially produced a handwritten version of the product manual to facilitate the operation of the elderly, and left a contact number for guidance at any time.

Not only can you surf the Internet, but you can also enjoy your online life safely and securely. To help the elderly use the Internet safely, the communications industry in our province has taken active actions.

"Uncles and aunts who like to 'stay' at home chatting on QQ and WeChat should pay attention. If a friend chats with you online and says that you need to borrow money out of town, you must be vigilant. There are some criminals. They will use technological means to steal your friend's information and borrow money from you through his account. In this case, we can ask the other party to video or call to verify first. "Recently, at the Zhaiying Street Business Hall of Hebei Unicom Shijiazhuang. , China Unicom’s “Anti-Fraud Assistant” is popularizing anti-fraud knowledge to the elderly.

In conjunction with World Telecommunications and Information Society Day, Hebei China Unicom has launched a free "anti-fraud business card" service for seniors over 60 years old, focusing on "anti-fraud and helping the elderly" scenarios to "care for the elderly and prevent telecom fraud" As the theme, in view of the characteristics of the elderly with weak awareness of prevention, poor identification ability, and easy to be deceived, through online publicity, we collaborate with front-line marketers to organize offline activities to simultaneously promote anti-fraud services for the elderly.

In our province, the Internet is gradually penetrating into middle-aged and elderly people. Data show that as of 2021, among the province’s Internet users, the proportion of Internet users over 50 years old has reached 17.4. In 2020, this figure is 5.

Develop products to help the elderly and explore 5G telemedicine applications

Meet the living needs of the elderly

Hang a small square terminal on your chest and use it in emergencies If the situation arises, just pull the cord, and an alarm for help will be broadcast to the emergency contact's phone number.

On May 17, China Unicom simultaneously launched its first self-developed aging-friendly terminal - China Unicom Assistant in offline business halls and China Unicom App. As a product that solves the technical difficulties of operating smart terminals for the elderly, China Unicom Assistant can provide integrated care services for the elderly including "emergency help, one-click calls, reminders, and entertainment life", and uses AI intelligent voice interaction to simplify operations. , the elderly operate based on smart terminals, and the children use small programs for remote management.

The International Telecommunication Union has set the theme of this year’s World Telecommunication and Information Society Day as “Digital Technologies for the Elderly and Achieving Healthy Aging”, which highly reflects the digital economy era and the information and communication industry helping the elderly to leapfrog. The responsibility and responsibility of the "digital divide" also puts forward higher requirements for the information and communication industry to use innovative technologies to promote the aging-friendly transformation of information and communication.

In terms of aging-friendly transformation, all basic telecommunications companies in our province have launched private network services and launched an aging-friendly service page on the mobile app. The elderly mode has a large-print version and voice broadcast. Compared with the ordinary version, the page is simple , reduce text content, and create personalized features such as large fonts, free color matching, large subtitles, and automatic screen reading for the elderly.

Using digital technology to serve the elderly, our province is actively exploring innovative applications of 5G networks in telemedicine. On May 8, the 5G Emergency Trauma Treatment Alliance of the First Hospital of Hebei Medical University was established, and 16 county-level hospitals including Shijiazhuang Gaocheng District People's Hospital joined the alliance. The alliance has greatly improved the radius of pre-hospital emergency services through 5G ambulances.

Xie Quan, member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Provincial Communications Administration Bureau, said that this year, our province will focus on improving the broadband penetration level of empty-nest elderly people in remote mountain villages, and improve the use of various codes by the elderly under the normalization of epidemic prevention and control. The convenience of He card promotes telemedicine to enter communities and families, promotes the knowledge of health care and treatment of diseases into the brains and hearts, and helps the elderly to bridge the digital divide and enjoy digital dividends.

Xie Quan also pointed out that helping the elderly to better integrate into digital life is not only the responsibility of the communications industry, but also requires the support of thousands of industries. For example, to "ensure the financial inclusion of the elderly", it is inseparable from every merchant's tolerance for the elderly who pay with paper currency.

Industry insiders pointed out that in the face of the aging population trend, telecommunications and information and communication technologies can play a role in achieving healthier aging. However, using digital technology to enable the elderly to age healthily, participate in social activities and make contributions requires the joint efforts of many parties. Government departments should rely on the implementation of the "new infrastructure" strategy to clear "digital life" infrastructure obstacles for the elderly, especially rural elderly, provide Internet access opportunities, and stimulate their demand for new technologies. Family members should be "guides" in digital life, and children should pay more attention to and encourage them to learn functions such as video chatting, browsing articles, and sending location information, so that the elderly can experience the fun of digital life.

Major Internet platforms need to actively develop "aging-friendly" new media products to provide the elderly with quality, warm and emotional digital services.

Source丨Hebei Daily