Confidence with Technology

In February 2022 we asked:

 “How comfortable are you using technology and what if anything would help you feel more confident?”

We spoke with around 70 older people aged between mid-50s and mid-90s from all parts of the county.

Apart from three people, everyone we spoke with had some experience of using technology and several people told us they feel they are competent and regular users of laptops, tablets and mobile phones.

Those who didn’t use technology at all were all in their late 80s and 90s and generally just weren’t interested in using it:

“At 94 I just don’t get on with technology and don’t need to use it. I write letters to people and get friends to post them”.

Some people felt confident as they had used technology at work or had attended courses.

“I am ok, because I am from a computer background”

“I am very comfortable using technology. As an engineer by training and working in a team that uses many different Windows based office applications I regularly experience changes and updates in the technology”.

However, the majority of people we spoke to who did use technology told us they didn’t feel that confident and just “managed to get by” with it as best they could.

“I would say I am not very comfortable but I cope with technology - I know my limitations.”

“Regarding the Age UK question on how comfortable I am with technology the truthful answer is probably not very.”

The main issue for many of the people we spoke with was how quickly things change and how hard it is to keep up to date with all the changes. 

“I am not too comfortable using technology. The only way to do something about it is to learn, but I feel like the more I learn the less I understand especially with all the updates”.

“I'm pretty confident and use a lap top and tablet most days.  I do get a bit frustrated sometimes but have friends and family who support with things like adding links into documents; passwords are a bit of a nuisance too.  If there was more free local tuition about things I wanted to learn I would go - you are never too old to learn and things are always changing”

There appears to be a general issue around accessing the right sort of support to learn how to make the most of any technology.  While some felt lucky to have children and grandchildren to help they didn’t always want to ask and felt younger peoples time was too limited to offer the type of support needed.

“The major issue is when something goes wrong and you get stuck and flustered and there is no one around to help out. It’s normally a simple error but can be very frustrating, children set up devices but they’re not around for training etc.” 

“I don’t like being rushed or pushed into using technology by family members”.

It was clear from our conversations that older people are keen to learn more about technology and use it to help them access information and keep in touch with others.  However, some were concerned about using the internet for online banking and shopping as they feared being scammed and wanted ensure their personal and financial information was safe.

“I am only confident on a few basic things; emails etc. and I would really like to learn more.  I am too nervous to attempt on-line shopping on my own”.

“I do use my laptop to do emails and keep in touch with people but I don’t do online banking as I’m worried about scams”,

Older people told us what they would really value and what would improve their confidence is having someone to go to when things go wrong and for anyone teaching them to be patient, understanding and use language they understood to explain things.

“I’d like somewhere that offered IT help for free/and with someone that I can trust”

“What would really help is having someone who can help answer my questions and show me how to do things with patience and understanding, they need to go at my pace - I do get frustrated and sometimes wish I could just phone someone up”.

Overall, it would appear that the majority of older people we spoke with do use some form of technology and do have some confidence and get by but are also keen to keep learning and stay up to date with changes.  Most people told us they would however, welcome more 1-1 support and would benefit from knowing where to go to access both teaching type support and also technical support with issues which arise.