STRAIT to the future

8th Asia-Pacific Specials, Health and Law Librarians Conference

Information and older people - present and future

Helen Scott
Council on the Ageing (Australia)

Keywords: aged; seniors; information services; information technology; Internet

Abstract

1999 is International Year of Older Persons, with world-wide focus on the United Nations principles of independence, participation, care, self-fulfillment and dignity. In view of Australia's ageing population, it is timely to focus on the sorts of information needed by older people, how they access and use it, and implications for future use of information technology. The first part of the paper discusses older people's needs for and use of information. Data is drawn from research and policy literature, and from Council on the Ageing (COTA) experience in information service provision. COTA is an independent, peak consumer organisation run by and for older people in all States and Territories.

The second part focuses on information technology - research on older people's attitudes to new technology and its applications; innovative programs currently operating; future service possibilities. Senior surfers are a fast growing group on the Web and the paper highlights the development of some relevant sites.

This paper is the basis of an expanded report to be published as one of COTA's series of occasional papers (Scott 1999 forthcoming).

Introduction

What age is older? Members of Council on the Ageing are 50 plus. For policy purposes 65 plus is often chosen, largely because this was a common retirement age and eligibility age for the male age pension. Sixty is generally when government and agencies start defining 'old age'. We need to remember that older people are people who have lived a long time; if we are lucky we will all have the opportunity to grow old.

Sheer numbers make seniors important - globally there are 578 million people over 60. Australia's population is ageing. In 1997 12% or 2.2 million of Australia's population was aged over 65, compared to 8% in 1946. This will increase to 17.2% in 2025, and 24% (6 million) by 2051, part of a common trend in the developed world where fertility and mortality are declining. Australia is way down the world list in terms of proportions of older people - behind most of Europe and Asia. The point is that an ageing population is welcome. The Productivity Commission is not renowned for its optimism but its recently published conference proceedings (Productivity Commission 1999) are a state of the art reference, and provide good news:

1. An ageing population reflects a decline in mortality and premature death.
2. The future population will not only be older but richer; thanks to superannuation Australia faces the lowest pension costs of any Western country.
3. Don't believe all the gloom preached about the costs of our ageing population - ageing alone is only likely to lift future GDP costs by about 2%, the forecast of health care eating up 17% is way too high according to the experts.

International Year of Older Persons is a good time to recognise the active contribution older people make to community, family and society. 1999 was designated by the United Nations as IYOP, focusing on the five principles of independence, participation, care, self-fulfillment and dignity. I think we would all agree that good information seeking and provision is intrinsic to all of these.

Older people are a very diverse group, and like the population at large have a variety of needs and social resources. Contrary to popular belief, only 1% of the 65-69 year olds live in health establishments such as nursing homes and hostels, though this rises with increasing age to 61% of those over 95. The overwhelming majority live independently at home, either with a partner (46%), family 17%) or alone (28%) (ABS 1999b). Over 85 there are twice as many women as men; most demand for services and assistance comes from the over 80s cohort.

The paper examines the following issues related to older people's use of information and information technology.

Delivering the information older people need
What do older people need to know, and how do they prefer to receive this information? What are the most effective ways in which service providers can get information to their potential clients? This paper distils findings, primarily Australian, that throw light on such questions. These findings come from literature searches and also from information collected by Council on the Ageing (COTA).

COTA knows a great deal about the information needs of older people. As the peak consumer body representing older people, COTA's everyday work involves answering queries received by phone, mail or visits to our information and advisory services. Other information activities include policy analysis, consultation and advice to governments, publishing, servicing seniors clubs networks, surveys, meetings and forums for members and service providers. COTA had its origins in 1951 in Old People's Welfare Councils and through the States and Territories have about 1 500 member organisations and many thousands of individual members over 50 years old.

Accessing information technology: older people and IT literacy
Very little of the literature on older people so far has seriously suggested using the Internet to distribute information to them. Yet as information professionals we already take its importance for granted and use it to do just this. I agree with John Ridge, President of the Australian Computer Society who says that "the reality of living in the Information Age is that most people in future are going to need some level of IT literacy" (The Australian 23.3.1999 p59). If governments (or non-government organisations for that matter) plan to deliver most services via the Internet they must provide training in the middle and older generations to embrace this technology. I describe some initiatives in this area and speculate on others.

Attitudes to new technology; how older people use computers and the Internet
Technology includes a vast range of products, many already widely used by older people. The discussion is confined to information technology, and specifically, personal computers, only briefly mentioning assistive devices. Studies have strengthened perceptions that older people in general are slower to embrace new technology. One reason is that rather than being reluctant consumers, they are uninformed consumers. Part of our job as information professionals is to make people aware of the technology options available and to teach the skills to master them. Other barriers to use of technology - like cost, poor product design and lack of support, disabilities, insufficient training and education - need to be addressed.

What services are currently operating? Future possibilities and scenarios
I will describe some of the initiatives I know about, started by COTAs and others, and speculate on future options. The projects operating explode a prevailing myth that people's capacity to learn diminishes with age.

What are older people's information needs?

The literature shows the importance of information in enabling older people, their families and their carers to make choices and remain independent. COTA's experiences bear this out. Retirees face complex choices about a new life away from the workforce, whether they are self-funded, older workers who are made redundant, or pensioners. Understanding options for accommodation, services and assistance and on the consequences of choosing one over another, is vital.

Despite an abundance of information, a lack of knowledge of what services are on offer exists. "Most of the information older people need is already provided by community or government based information systems and is theoretically publicly accessible. In practice finding it is usually either too time-consuming or too complicated for most people...many do not know the first port of call or even the nature of the assistance they might require" (Adamson 1994). Professionals like librarians and aged care workers need as much updating as consumers. Realistic information services need to be included as part of community care resources.

From the literature we know that older people:

• are a very diverse group
• have information needs which change with life events and age.
• in some groups are particularly vulnerable and poorly informed (eg immobile, socially isolated, disabled, dementia sufferers, illiterate, rural/remote, aboriginal or ethnic minority groups. It is worth noting that nearly one in four older people in Australia by 2001 will be from a non-English speaking background).
• do not usually inquire about services until they need them or are in crisis
• often have very specific needs eg a funeral director on the death of a spouse
• do not readily seek information from formal sources and rely mainly on informal sources and established contacts. Both Australian (eg Purdon 1993; Schultz 1993; Williamson 1994; Woolcott 1997; Australian Law Reform Commission 1995) and British (Tinker et al 1993; Blake 1998 who also cites American literature) sources note this. They also note the importance of providing individualised advice on a personal, one-to-one basis.

What older people need information about
According to statistics collected by COTAs, topics are roughly prioritised as:

• Accommodation
  - specialised information on supported accommodation and residential care, including bed vacancies, respite care
  - independent housing options, housing finance, home renovations, tenant advice and help
• Social Security advice eg concessions, pensions and benefits
• financial and legal advice eg taxation, insurance, power of attorney and guardianship, death and bereavement
• community services eg Home and Community Care Program (HACC), home help and housekeeping, aids and equipment, transport, employment and retirement planning
• health and health services - includes use of medicines
• leisure and recreation, education
• general information and referral, including complaints and advisory services

How do older people find out about services?
Purdon (1993 - referring to federal aged care services) and others suggest the following sources are most used by older people:

• Friends, family or acquaintances (informal networks) are the most used, especially by people of non-English speaking background. Many providers worry that word of mouth can lead to misinformation.
• General practitioners. Some of the drawbacks are that they are not always seen as reliable, do not volunteer information or are unaware of services.
• Health agencies and professionals eg chemists.
• Hospital Aged Care Assessment Teams or social workers, after a period of admission.
• Clubs, associations and groups.
• Local Councils and local offices of State departments.
• Local libraries.
• Local or regional service directories.

Williamson's research (1993; 1994; 1999) backed by Davison (1993 p121) suggests information-seeking behaviour is more incidental than purposefully sought. She lists the most used resources as:

• family;
• newspapers (especially local ones);
• friends;
• television;
• printed information (especially junk mail - "my window on the world" as one housebound older woman put it);
• radio (especially ethnic radio) is important for the vision impaired or physically disabled;
• professionals.

Libraries and information centres were the least used sources nominated in her surveys, except for recreation.

Market research (Nicholson 1995) cites the "top mature audience media" as:

• local newspapers;
• local talk-back radio and nostalgia radio stations;
• information and magazine format television;
• special interest magazines covering home, garden, travel, food and wine, investment and current affairs.

Wilson and Scott (1995), asked a small sample of readers of Housing Choices for Older Australians: "How do you prefer to receive information about topics of interest or services?" Results in order of priority were: information sheets (26%), pamphlets/books (25%), radio (11%), face to face (9%), community organisations (9%), television (8%), telephone (6%), newspapers (4%), computer (2%).

It is obvious from all the above results that we need to use a wide range of materials and outlets to distribute information.

How can we promote services better?
Government information programs have traditionally tended to rely on pamphlets and brochures, centrally produced and locally distributed in places older people do not visit in large numbers. Purdon (1993 p40) questions the value of leaving them around, saying they are better used to supplement what people have already been told. More realistic methods are, for example:

• posters
• local outlets in shopping centres, railway stations, banks, supermarkets etc
• advertising on local radio and TV
• advertisements in local press for central contact numbers. Articles and fliers in free and home delivered papers which have high levels or readership
• other print media eg the Age Page in telephone directories needs to be multilingual, widely advertised and emphasised by colour. Newsletters of clubs and organisations, like COTA News or Fifty Something (National Seniors Association) are read more widely than the members who receive them, as are government ones like Age Pension News or Veterans Affairs publications
• single sheet information included with correspondence delivered to every home eg rates notices, fuel bills, pension notices
• talks, displays, visits
• local advertising campaigns eg door knocks, leaflet drops
• the Internet. Websites have a wealth of information online which information professionals can use to assist older people. COTA (Australia's website links to Australian fact sheets at http://www.cota.org.au/facts.htm One example is the Dept of Health and Aged Care information sheets on residential and community care.

Whatever method is chosen, it will be helped by

Better presentation of material

• large print size (minimum font of 11 or 12)
• colour choice eg dark color print on non-reflective surface; high contrast color combinations
• booklets on a topic need enough detail for planning and referral
• use familiar words; avoid abbreviations, acronyms and jargon
• avoid use of words like aged, grannies, geriatric. Preferred terms are older people, seniors
• use the name of a service rather than a program or provider eg home help or lawn mowing rather than Community Options

For more details see Queensland Office of Ageing (1994).

Information dissemination: what is the most promising approach?
There seems to be general agreement that face to face consultation works best in conjunction with written 'take-away' material (especially booklets) that are relevant to the topic discussed (eg Purdon 1993; Woolcott 1997).

Telephones are a 'next best' option because of the facility for question and answer and because they rely on oracy rather than literacy. Older people have positive attitudes to telephone use (Adamson 1994; Williamson 1993; Tinker 1993), particularly where privacy or anonymity is assured. Limitations cited are that lines are too often busy, touch phones are difficult to use, and phones are shunned by the hearing impaired and ethnic groups with language and accent difficulties. Older people are "frequently displeased when accessing government advice/services using automated telephone systems. It is forced upon them; they have no choice; they think they get better quality service talking to a 'real' person" (Steinberg and Walley 1998). These authors make the point that younger people may feel the same way.

Telephone information services. These can be particularly useful for specific needs. Recent federal examples are medicine phone-ins, residential care hotlines. Purdon (1993) found a strong preference among consumers and service providers "for the provision of a well advertised central information point, preferably at regional or local level, which can provide older people and their carers with information about local aged care services" (p51). This is echoed by Tinker (1993) who suggests a 'signposting' service alerting people to existing sources. The central contact point should have a single local or free-call telephone number, a constantly updated computer database, and trained staff to provide sympathetic and appropriate information. This is now happening in several states, shown by the following examples.

• NSW Seniors Information Service is a centralised state-wide telephone information and referral service on 13 12 44. It averaged 2300 calls each month in 1998, recording 25 329 calls for the year. COTA (NSW) won the initial State Government tender in 1996 and has run the service for the past 3 years, and is tendering for the next contract. A useful list of their commonly asked questions with answers is at http://www.add.nsw.gov.au/sis.htm
• In South Australia the Seniors Info Service in July 1994 brought together a range of existing services for older people, and arose out of a review of information needs of older South Australians (Schultz 1993). It works from an Infosearch database developed by Community Information Strategies Australia. The service answered 23 312 calls in 1997-98. Part of SIS is Seniors Info Link, an electronic bulletin board information service linking networks of older people and service providers, freecall 1800 636 368. The website http://www.seniors.asn.au/ in the 12 months to March 1999 registered 24 552 hits.
• COTA Tasmania auspices a joint Commonwealth/State HACC funded project called ADCIS - Aged and Disability Care Information Service, Tasmania. It is a free statewide telephone information and referral service for elder people, younger people with disabilities and carers on 1800 806 656. The directory is a PC or CD-ROM package using DBTextworks software and is available on a subscription basis for $30 pa or via the Website at http://www.tased.edu.au/tasonline/adcis/ It reported 3309 inquiries for 1997-98.

All COTAs operate information services, often supported by their own resource collections which generally provide public access. Libraries at the national office, ACT and Queensland are indexed on DBTextworks databases. COTA (Australia) as peak consumer body, and Aged Care Australia as the peak body for non-profit service providers, have merged their catalogs to share one database.

In similar vein, Carers Associations and Alzheimer's Associations operate in each state and territory. Each organisation offers one toll free number (1800 242 636 and 1800 639 331 respectively) which connects callers to their state office; they also have resource centres.

The 1999-2000 Federal Budget in May 1999 promised $41.2 million over four years for a Carelink program to provide single regional contact points across Australia for community care services. Aimed at GPs and their clients, a single call is to provide access to information about availability and eligibility for local home and community care services. Details are still unclear.

One-stop shops. This model is under investigation as part of a reform move towards service integration. Centrelink aims to be the one-stop shop for all retirement services. During research (Woolcott 1997) it consulted with older Australians and confirmed that they generally prefer:

• face to face service
• to come into an office to discuss important or sensitive issues
• want time to talk with someone they know in a secure and private environment.

Centrelink is currently establishing a new service delivery model which will respond to these preferences by simplifying services, identifying one main contact in the local office responsible for all of a customer's transactions with Centrelink, and adopting a life events approach which focuses on real life situations rather than payment categories.

COTA (Victoria) has won a State contract and is setting up a city shop front in central Melbourne in September 1999 to extend its existing Advisory and Information Service and provide consultations, Internet tutoring and resource access.

The point is that we need a range of models. These may include one stop shops, the central telephone services being run at state level, community information centres, libraries, web based services. Online updating of databases and directories should be easier than ever. All methods still require proper resourcing and worker training.

Attitudes to new technology; use of computers and the internet

Contrary to popular belief, seniors do embrace new technologies. More recent retirees have disposable incomes and have just left workplaces where computers are commonplace. Retirees have more time, and want to understand what their families/grandchildren are doing. Chronological age is often less significant to technology use than the presence or lack of technological skills, or disability, infirmity and dependency - regardless of age.

Older people are likely to reject technological advances that decrease their opportunity to socialise or tend to isolate them, but are attracted to products that enhance capacity for independent living. Flinders University research (Irizarry and Downing 1997) shows that older people welcomed high tech products, including computer-controlled "smart houses" of the future, but want clearer instructions on how to use them and controls which are easy to read and handle.

On seniors' use of computers and the Internet, the picture is fast changing and less clear. Australian research (eg Williamson 1993, 1994 and 1997; Steinberg and Walley 1997) and European research (European Institute for the Media 1998) to date has found that generally older people have negative attitudes towards computers, with very low rates of e-mail or Web use. However, recent studies suggest that people over 60 are logging on to the Internet in greater numbers than any other demographic (Gartner Group 1998 p239).

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures (1999) show that the proportion of people aged 55 and over who had accessed Net has increased over 50% - in 4 months from November 1998 to February 1999, the 55+ online went from 7% to 11%. A year earlier the figure was 3%. IT use in the United States has always been higher, and earlier: in 1995 SeniorNet in the US found that 30% of their interviewees aged 55-75 owned a PC. More detailed survey results will be available in Scott (1999 forthcoming).

I suggest that reasons for the lag are higher costs for PCs and online connections, and lack of sponsorship in Australia (Microsoft, Adobe, Ameritch, IBM in the US have all helped seniors organisations like SeniorNet).

Service initiatives and innovations

As an indication of information growth on the Net, by mid 1998 there were over 2 000 ageing-related Web sites, up from 25 in mid 1995. Philadelphia Geriatric Centre Librarian Joyce Post tracked most of them in her invaluable directory until July 1998 at http://www.aoa.dhhs.gov/aoa/pages/jpostlst.html

One of the main areas of initiative has been education and training to help older people take advantage of opportunities offered by information technology.

COTA training programs
Four State COTAs have taken up the challenge of community computer training. COTA believes that peer education is an appropriate way to approach adult learning, and trains older facilitators.

• COTA Queensland was first off the mark with community access computers in their foyer under the now defunct DSS Community Information Network program. Senior Surfers is a group that meets monthly with equipment and support provided by COTA Q; older people teach classes as 'compumentors'. The group has developed its own web page at http://www.cotaq.org.au/
• In South Australia, COTA SA Clubs have partnered with the well-established Flinders University's program Seniors-On-Line. This was set up in 1994 using the US SeniorNet (Furlong 1995) model.
• COTA Victoria's SATIN (Seniors Access to Information Networks) project was launched in October 1997 to provide training sessions by peers for older people in Melbourne's West in public libraries. Skills.net funding extended these to other areas of Victoria. The Internet Access Centre opened in April 1999 to offer free Internet access and tuition to members and people without access. The co-ordinator is an older volunteer.
• Western Australia's Office of Seniors Interests (http://www.osi.wa.gov.au/) was one the earliest Australian governments to explore Internet use in meeting information needs about ageing (Nicholls 1995). It funded COTA (WA) to provide training, where at its Seniors Technology Centre 3000 people have completed courses since 1996.

Computer clubs for seniors have operated in the Sydney area for nearly two decades. They have grown rapidly, leading to the formation of Australian Seniors Computer Clubs Association.

SeniorNet Association Inc was originally developed as a pilot program in Ipswich, Queensland in 1995. Since then SeniorNet Canberra and SeniorNet Australia have been set up. It offers a consultancy package to help establish new branches and corporate membership to existing groups. The national project co-ordinator is Dr Hilda des Arts, over 80 and living in a retirement village.

COTA Australia's website at http://www.cota.org.au was developed to provide another public access point for information about COTA and its policies, services and publications, and for further referral. It was a participant in the Commonwealth's On-Line Australia expo in 1998, and their September 1999 Seniors Online project at http://www.onlineseniors.net.au

Students and journalists like the page referring to online fact sheets and a paper called Reference sources of Information on Older People. Title pages of Australasian Journal on Ageing are up and we are exploring e-journal options. Full text AJA articles are incorporated by the Australian Institute of Family Studies on its FAMILY CD-ROM.

For would-be web designers, advice and tools are at flood proportions. Suffice it to say that designing for lower end PC technology and low bandwidth by using few graphics and colour for text and tables is a good start - it works for Amazon and Yahoo! Consumer bandwidths are not growing much: it takes 5-10 seconds to load the average 50K page size "like sucking treacle through a straw with a normal modem" as David Walker pithily said in The Age (IT section, 9.3.99). It is often said that many older people start with "hand-me-ups", like an old 386 computer discarded by a family member who has upgraded. For such reasons, COTA's website has been made 'Bobby certified'. This means that alt tags for all graphics are provided so that the site can be accessed by people with disabilities who may wish to turn off the graphics, and by less up-to-date browser technology.

Seniors sites: the website links to sites in Australia and round the world considered useful by myself as Information Manager and webmaster, with annotations. There is a specific section on sites run by older people or aimed at their web/IT education. "If you can sit up and eat, you can probably access the Internet" says Greynet , set up in 1997 at Elwood/St Kilda Neighbourhood Learning Centre in Melbourne http://esnlc.asn.au/esnlc/greynet/index.htm As the primary target is disadvantaged older people unlikely to afford their own equipment, the training is based around enabling people to access the internet from a community site such as local library or community centre.

Another site is SeniorNet, one of the earliest IT projects founded in 1986 in San Francisco to provide instruction, technical assistance and on-line computer service for older people, by older people, at learning centres around the USA. It is now an online service at http://www.seniornet.com with updates on a wide range of topics, discount shopping, online health advice, book clubs etc as well as discussion forums and live chat facilities. Membership is well over 20 000. Founder Mary Furlong went on to establish Third Age Media company as corporate sponsors of a commercial site http://www.thirdage.com, an online community of older Americans.

International Year of Older Persons (IYOP) offers the opportunity to publicise best practice projects and promote positive images of all age groups successfully using information technology. State Governments are funding IT projects for older people. Australian Coalition '99 is recognised as the official non-government organising body to help co-ordinate activities within the private sector for the year. Located as an auspiced project at COTA (Australia), AC '99's newsletter Update, and its website at http://home.vicnet.net.au/~ac99/ provide the first stop for information on the hundreds of partner organisations, projects and activities celebrating IYOP. Commonwealth Government IYOP activities are co-ordinated by the Office for Older Australians located in the Department of Health and Aged Care. The website is http://www.health.gov.au/acc/iyop/index.htm

The future: seniors in cyberspace

Seniors market
The over-50s are a huge but badly-researched market. The secret is not to target products at 'seniors', an age label, but at individual needs and lifestyle. Labeling a 'product 'for the elderly' is giving it the kiss of death. Marketers need to recognise the different preferences and attitudes of the various cohorts (Office of Seniors Interests 1997). "Market growth in the next ten years will be strongest in areas that meet the needs of the baby boomers, two-income working couples, and the aged" (Harding and Robinsion 1999, p12), who point to health, household services, leisure, travel and self-education as growth areas.

There will be plenty of e-commerce opportunities if pitched right. The over 50s are the most likely to shop via the Net (Nua Ltd (1999b). Independence, security, safety, usefulness, service and value for money are the dominant psychological factors to consider. Technology that makes things easier or more enjoyable to do is more important than products that save time or replace activity (Adamson 1994; Steinberg and Walley 1998).

Lifelong learning and well-being
Educational initiatives, or lifelong learning as they are now commonly referred to, are already popular and a vital part of healthy ageing. The University of the Third Age is demonstrating interactive and online opportunities which can overcome the obstacles of cost, transport, access and safety (at night in particular). Its Isolated Bytes program is for homebound people, at http://www.u3aonline.org.au

"No one knows you are a dog on the Internet and no one knows you are a senior either", said a 75-year old to Dale Spender (Spender 1998). There is no age, gender or time barrier on the Net - ageist stereotypes can disappear. Spender has suggested that learning to surf the net may well provide seniors with a new language and culture that can enhance intellectual skills and add to emotional well-being, and that governments could be lobbied to provide computers as a form of primary health care.

Some retirement villages have started computer classes. These can only increase as an activity option. There is an opportunity here for libraries and community information services to make links and extend their services. I would love to see multimedia facilities in every hostel and nursing home - computer games can be used for physical therapy. There is growing evidence of the benefits (eg Purnell and Sullivan-Schroyer 1997; Finn 1997; Buys 1998). Researchers are interested in exploring whether using a computer can improve memory recall for dementia and stroke victims.

Cost barriers
Cost is still a barrier to take-up of technology even though PCs are getting cheaper. Poor after-sales service plus service and repair costs are real disincentives. Most older Australians are on a low income and receive a full or part age pension (81% of women and 65% of men over 65). There must be access for those who cannot afford home based PCs and online charges. Community based access points such as public libraries, older people's organisations, community centres and government information outlets have further potential; other suggestions have been educational institutions, on-line kiosks in shopping centres (trialing in Victoria), and post offices with Net access stations like public phones. There is certainly scope for improving access to the Net by recycling computers - Broken Hill Uniting Church is providing computer access to residents in aged-care facilities via donation of used PCs (Australian 16.3.1999). Government and companies should be encouraged to set up partnerships with older people and their organisations to obtain superseded equipment, to loan equipment and subsidise installation and training. Perhaps the second-hand IT market needs regulating like the used car market.

One of the key tasks for information professionals will continue to be to teach information literacy, not just computer literacy. How to find information and to evaluate it, how to sift out the dross, the bad websites. Health and medicine are obvious examples. It will be interesting to watch development of the Department of Health and Aged Care health gateway at http://www.healthinsite.gov.au which aims to provide quality health information. How do we ensure that consumers have access to the best data available to choose a health service or practitioner? The debate between the AMA and those advocating 'scorecards' for doctors on a range of performance measures is worth noting. Health informatics and telemedicine (for example dial up health care, pharmacy intranets) are fields of study outside the range of this paper except to flag issues like privacy, security control, consent, ownership and control of electronic information.

Technologies for independence
Assistive, medical, telecommunications and personal technologies will be increasingly important in helping older people live independent lives, particularly the frail, homebound, isolated or those with sensory loss or functional disabilities (see for example discussion in Generations 1995). On the face of it the Internet has advantages for people with disabilities: hearing ability is irrelevant to e-mail and the Web; disabilities are being addressed by web accessibility guidelines and online projects like http://accessability.noie.gov.au/ Digital recording has already dramatically increased options for information delivery to blind, vision impaired or print handicapped people. Vision Australia is one of many organisations addressing the issue of visual impairment and providing services at http://www.visionaustralia.org.au, and at Disability Information Victoria http://www.disabilityinfo.org.au

The estimated population of 1.7 million hearing-impaired Australians is a large special interest community, but despite the size of this market telcos have not got far beyond the TTY (teletype) terminals. The Federal Government is funding a 6-month Deaf Australian Online Project (DAOP). Launched in April 1999, it is run nationally by the Victorian Deaf Society (VicDeaf at http://www.vicdeaf.com.au) with 3 other organisations. Some examples of assistive technologies in use but not widely available are adapted keyboards, touch screens (very important for arthritis sufferers) and others who can't handle a keyboard or mouse), voice command, alarm systems, implanted monitoring devices.

'Smart homes' is another innovation, offering control over one's environment. There are projects underway in Canberra, Adelaide and Melbourne. The inhouse information system may help keep later generations out of nursing homes.

Teconferencing has proved beneficial for providing support to isolated older people (Swindell 1994; Gibbons 1994).

Media already has the capacity to be more interactive than passive, and customised rather than mass. Video telephony can be melded with information databases for consumers seeking details on options, such as a 'walk' through a nursing home or service centre - there are already such online shopping facilities. Will digital TV, with its capacity to deliver interactive services like shopping, prove a big turning point for the online service industry, considering that older people are big watchers of TV? Microsoft obviously thinks so and has purchased Palo Alto company WebTV, which has provided e-mail and web access via television since 1995.

Product design
There is a dawning recognition that older people's input into technology services is valuable. Older persons' lobby groups have long argued for greater emphasis on product design and their involvement in product trials, so it is gratifying to see the Australian Telecommunication Users Group (ATUG) suggest that older people could help in the design and testing of communications services like call centres and e-commerce. "They have the time, the patience and the first-hand experience in dealing with customers and suppliers.... Senior citizens' clubs would make good test centres" (Australian computer section 12/1/99). ATUG argued that the often poor design of new electronic services slows their take-up. Instruction booklets are obvious candidates for improvement.

Service providers will hopefully anticipate problems and offer innovative solutions that address the needs of all users, such as a single point of contact for complaints and disputes rather than the multiplicity of agencies at present. The whole of Government approach on the Web is beginning to address this. A telephone help line to help people navigate government information and services could be provided within various government levels and through major utilities like Telstra, or supported by companies like Microsoft (Steinberg and Walley 1998). ATUG suggests that all manners of bills and personal administration tasks could be put on an electronic platform - driver's licence renewals, vehicle registration, insurance renewal, Medicare and health refund claims. It will be interesting to see what use is made of Access America for Seniors http://www.seniors.gov./stories.html, a site providing government services electronically, particularly in relation to social security benefits.

The Commonwealth's National Strategy for an Ageing Australia should address IT access across all portfolios.

Conclusion

Older people need the right information at the right time, rather than just access at any time. As a diverse population group they have varying areas of need, and tend to use informal sources. Preference for face-to-face or personalised dealings needs to be weighed against provision of information using written or electronic media. Formats of material and determining which groups to target require consideration. Information still needs to be available in a variety of forms and places so the spread of networked information will not disadvantage the majority without online access. Flexible and alternative models of communication and information provision are needed; examples of centralised telephone information services, one stop shops and community networks providing local information all have potential. Libraries and other community organisations are already established as information outlets, but making them electronic outposts is only part of the answer. They do not address the needs of people unable or unwilling to leave their home. Should we extend community service obligations to digital data networks, and if so, how? After two decades of ministerial inquiries and new ministerial titles we seem no closer to a national information policy.

New technology has the capacity to transcend time, space, gender and age. The Internet offers intriguing possibilities for maintaining social connections and bringing new experiences and stimulation as well as accessing information. Information providers need to beware of stereotypes portraying older people as technophobes, or passive dependants instead of informed consumers. We need to respond to their concerns, not their age. As consumers they can be empowered by being involving in the design, testing and marketing process.

I hope it's obvious that our society must avoid excluding older people (or any other group) from the benefits that can be had from the information economy - through lack of exposure or access, or because of technological illiteracy, or cost or poor design. The barriers and drawbacks should not be underestimated. The initiatives discussed indicate some ways of overcoming these. It is up to government, business and service agencies to provide further opportunities for older Australians to acquire skills to enhance their quality of life and independence.

We will not have a choice about whether to use information technology - it will be pervasive so we need to learn to use it wisely. IYOP offers an opportunity to highlight the best on offer. The last word fittingly belongs to Dr Hilda des Arts. As Australia's SeniorNet originator, she of all older people is aware of the benefits of computer aided communication, but reminds us that face to face contact still remains the most satisfying form of communication and interaction.

Author

Helen Scott (BA, Dip Lib, Dip Ed) has worked since 1969 in a variety of special libraries in Australia and England, and as an information consultant. She is currently employed as Information Manager at Council on the Ageing (Australia), where tasks include management of the library, IT and web development, and projects; policy formulation and editor of a bimonthly policy newsletter. Publications include a book and bibliographies on housing, policy submissions and conference papers.