carehome.co.uk reveals over 80 per cent of care home residents are missing out on 'crucial' internet access

The director of carehome.co.uk is calling on care homes to help get residents online as research reveals that thousands are missing out on a “crucial” tool.

carehome.co.uk has found that only a fifth of care homes – approximately 4,250 of the 20,000 across the country - have given residents web access.

Davina Ludlow, director of carehome.co.uk, is now calling on care homes to change this and help residents reap the potential health benefits of being online. She said: “We would like to see more care homes giving residents access to the internet. ICT should be an integral part of life in a care home.

“The internet can be crucial in giving older people and people living with disabilities back their independence and stop them feeling so isolated. They can shop online, order books and DVDs, chat to family and friends using Skype, and look at photos on Facebook.

“ICT can play a vital role in engaging people who are living with dementia. iPads can be used as memory reminiscence tools. Music and archive photos from different eras can unlock memories and can easily be accessed by touching the screen.

“ICT is also great for helping grandparents and their grandchildren to interact as using tablets such as iPads can make communicating so much easier.”

Baroness Sally Greengross OBE, chief executive of The International Longevity Centre-UK think tank, is supporting the plea for more care homes to provide internet access and called the findings of the research “disappointing”. She said: “I am glad that carehome.co.uk is calling for more care homes to give their residents access to ICT. This is an area that really needs to be addressed to ensure that care home residents are fully included in today’s society.

“These findings that only a fifth of care homes have internet access are very disappointing. Technology can stimulate creativity and trigger reminiscence. It is so important for the intellectual and emotional wellbeing of older people, enabling them to connect through friends and family by email, Facebook and Skype. I would urge all care homes to have ICT as an integral part of their homes as it is a vital part of residential care.”

EachStep Blackley care home, a dementia home in Manchester, is one of the relatively small number which offers internet access to residents and Phil Benson, deputy manager, believes their lives are enhanced by it. He said: “I think it is important for care homes to give their residents access to ICT. It is part of everyday life for everyone nowadays so it should be the same in care homes. ICT helps you to be part of a community and so many things are done online now. If there is no ICT in a care home, residents are being excluded from modern society. Many of our residents will have had touchscreen tablets and mobile phones before they come into the care home.

“Our residents with higher cognition use Skype and talk to their relatives and friends all over the world. We have a lady who regularly speaks to her family in Australia. We also have a lady who shops online and does all her banking on the internet. She also uses the Sainsbury’s website to plan what she is going to buy and makes a list from that.

“The staff also use the internet with the residents to decide what day trips to go on as they can look at the attractions online.”

Older women are the least likely group in society to use the internet, despite potentially having the most to gain from it, according to data from the Office of National Statistics.

Nearly three quarters (73 per cent) of women aged 75 and over, have never been online. Older men are more likely to use the internet than older women, with 59 per cent never having used it.

Now Age UK is calling on the Government, local authorities and businesses to help older people to get online.

Michelle Mitchell, charity director general at Age UK, said, ‘More than any group of people, older women risk being marginalised by not being online.

“Nearly two million women aged 75 and over, many of whom admit to feeling lonely, have never been online and are missing out on the benefits of using the internet. Learning internet skills is a process which for most starts with staying in touch with family and friends.”

For more information on carehome.co.uk findings, call Anokhi Madhavji on 0741 570 1567 or email carehome.co.uk.press@gmail.com