As the age of information moves on, many elders find themselves stuck without smartphones and digital literacy. Jiangsu Province is making every possible effort to enhance the compatibility between technology and the older generations, erasing the digital gap between them.
Here at Nanjing, 84-year-old Granny Mo is learning from volunteers to send red packets and make video calls through her smartphone, which has been unused for a year. The first thing she did after learning the skill was to send a red packet to her grandson.
Mo’s Grandson
Thank you Grandma
Happy Chinese New Year
The smartphones will serve as a tool to bring elders closer to the digital era. In 2021, Jiangsu will spend 10 million yuan on the training of smart device usage for 500 thousand people across the province. Meanwhile, tailormade services will be provided at banks, hospitals, railway stations, etc. In Yingzhou City, a dedicated elderly service was prepared for government affairs. In Suzhou, traditional procedures that elders are familiar with will be reserved for traffic, hospital, consuming and so on.
Apart from traditional services, tailormade smart products are also being introduced in the province. For instance, Xuzhou has published an application for health services that allows another user to finish procedures in the patient’s stead, while adding functions such as voice over guidance and face recognition. “Elder Mode” has also been launched on hospital devices with larger text sizes and voice instructions.
Shi Lei, Head of Information Dept., Xuzhou Cancer Hospital
We prepared self-service terminals here
which provides registration and payments services
There are staff members to offer instruction
and courtesy counters are also open
to elders who prefer face-to-face service
At the same time, a task list has been published by the province, which prioritized 50 highlighted targets involving traffic, hospitalization and consuming of elders, aiming at closing the digital gaps.
