Most of our clients here at Jewish Care Explore find the world of technology challenging.
What springs to mind when I think about what we do, is the image of a Tube train coming into a station with that well-known phrase “mind the gap!” blaring out.
The train is a symbol of the digital revolution. Some individuals climb on board without thinking too hard about it whilst others require support to navigate between platform and train.
We are constantly adapting what we do to best meet the needs of every individual.
Towards the end of last year, one of our client’s, Sara (not her real name), a woman in her mid-seventies, came in to see us with the request to assist her with setting up and becoming familiar with her newly purchased android smartphone.
It was immediately apparent that Sara would benefit from using a stylus – a useful aid for individuals for whom touch screen contact is challenging.
But several sessions went by with very little overall progress being made. Each new session was starting to resemble the previous one and the one before that. Sara was just not getting a hang of making and receiving calls on her new device. It was disconcerting that she was arriving for her sessions with her phone still in its box! And this was after around 3 months! Sara was not making any attempt to use it and one day admitted to feeling overwhelmed by it.
It emerged that Sara had an anxiety relating to her new device. To make proper progress, we needed to address this. What exactly was concerning her? What was causing this worry? It was not just the sense of feeling overwhelmed that was concerning her, but she said that she was afraid of dropping it. We recommended that she buy a robust phone case. Easily addressed. A further concern was that she was uncomfortable to her device in public places. We reassured her that she would be in good company were she to make or receive a call whilst on a bus, but that she was correct to feel concerned if it rang whilst she was at the theatre, for example.
Whilst the stylus we offered Sara supported her physically, she also needed extra encouragement and support. Sara has now started to use her device, albeit cautiously. She is getting excited about the power of Google and the possibilities that exist to use her device to plan day trips. For us, we feel that we have gone some way to supporting Sara in bridging the gap.
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- This article was written by the Jewish Care Karten Centre
- Featured in the Karten Spring 2022 Newsletter
- This article is listed in the following subject areas: Centre News