At the door of a shopping center in Ciudad Lineal (Madrid), Leonor Prado, 81 years old, driving an old mobile Alcatel, of those with the large keys. Try calling a family, but fails. “Is that makes me bip, bip, bip, and will not let me talk,” he resigned. In the same neighborhood stroll José Antonio Mora, 78 years old. Put the smartphone in the pocket. “I use this a lot, and in addition he handled it pretty well,” he says. He says that he seems very comfortable for the formalities of the bank, request medical appointments and to buy transport tickets. Relationships with technology as different as these show the two sides of the digital divide existing among the elderly.

Not being able to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the new technologies imply a greater vulnerability to social isolation and reduced self-esteem, say the experts

The statistics reflect that more and more people over age 60 have access to the network in Spain. A 49.1% of citizens between 65 and 74 years of age used the Internet in the three months prior to the completion of the survey of the INE on the topic of this year. In 2013, he had done only 21.9%. But more than half of the population is still outside of the digital wave that strikes the contemporary society. And the difficulties to be incorporated into this transformation increase in the rural environment, the experts consulted. Not being able to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the new technologies imply a greater vulnerability to social isolation and reduced self-esteem, alert.

three years Ago, Lola Guzman, madrid, of 77 years, met Stephanie of Régil, founder of the project approach of the elderly to the new technologies eMayores. Guzman, extrabajadora in a tailoring workshop and a housewife, he already owned a smartphone, but I didn’t know very well how to use it. Thanks to the weekly classes with Of Régil, opened a range of new possibilities. Now communicates with his family with calls and emails, sends text messages and audios from Whatsapp, is active on Facebook, look for recipes on Google, gives orders to the virtual assistant, enjoys games like Bubble and puts to the test your memory with a few apps that help to keep the mind active.

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Of Régil explains that one of their main objectives is to support the seniors in maintaining independence. “I want to be autonomous, and if not what am I despair”, makes it clear to the student. “My interest is to help them become digital citizens, that is what society asks us to,” says the professor.

“When you’re older you can go out less, your world shrinks, your children are no longer living in the next door”, stresses Mayte Sancho, a psychologist and expert on aging. “To be able to have a computer, Skype or phone gives a lot of life and prevents situations of loneliness,” he observes. The reduction of the digital gap between the elderly seems to be a positive news. “In a future that is just around the corner, the technology is going Arzbet to be a path to resolution of problems of all kinds, especially in the area of health, access to resources and guidance,” he says.

there are Still barriers

But the barriers that stand between people with more age and the access to the digital world, in many cases, are still evident. Lola Guzman, for example, costs operating the touch screen of your mobile. “I erased the letters and take long to write,” he says. At times, the memory fails, and you do not remember how to access some functions. If you get a “message” unusual ” when you use the computer, he prefers to leave and not come back to play it. And you have to give “tin” to her teacher for help to fix it, according to account.

“the elderly are asked to manage a technology that has now come, but coming from an analog world,” says De Régil. The founder of the project eMayores believes that the difficulties increase if the elderly begin to have certain disabilities, diffuse, such as vision or hearing problems”. In your opinion, does not take into account these aspects can marginalizarlos with respect to the most young people.

To David Cierco, director general of the Network.is the public agency in charge of promoting the digital agenda in Spain, one of the biggest barriers is the difficulty of access to the contents of the Internet. “Both from the point of view of the public and private sectors, there are not many web content that they see useful and adapted to their needs,” he observes. Mayte Sancho points out that the problem may become more acute when performing actions required by the public administration. “To do a procedure can be terrible. You get to take hours over this nonsense,” he says.

These barriers mean that, in many cases, older people resign to relate with the technologies, according to this expert. “Many people believe that this is not your world and your generation, that is a very difficult thing. And do not approach it for fear of frustration and failure.”

Want to join the digital society

Sancho believes that it may further reduce the technological gap, if an effort is made to “simplify the technology”. Cierco think that will be a determining factor the fact that more and more seniors want to take advantage of the opportunities of the network to communicate, learn and access services. “They have the same enthusiasm for learning that a young person,” he says.

The desire not to fail them to the four participants of the workshop of Tablets and Smartphones in the center of the older Principe de Asturias in Madrid, one of the courses of new technologies for the elderly organized by the city Council. The youngest of the students is 69 years old, the oldest 85. Everyone is going with mobile and a notebook. The teacher, Sandra Alonso, hand out a few tablets, and it indicates the exercise of the day: go to the PlayStore, every one through your account; search for, download and open the application in THE COUNTRY.

An hour and a half later, they have all managed to complete the task. Joseph, exflorista gardener 83-year-old who prefers not to give her last name, is especially interested in discovering the possibilities offered by the app. “What this is like to read a newspaper? How and where will I find you going to write? “, question.

access to The technologies for larger, more difficult in rural areas

The technological gap is wider in the rural world. According to a report 2016 of the Institute of Elderly and Social Services (IMSERSO) based on data from the INE, the previous year in urban centers with more than 100.00 inhabitants had at least 40% of households of older connected to the Internet. In villages with less than 10.000, the percentage was 15 points below that. Despite the fact that the digitization of the country to move forward rapidly, this difference still exists. “There are many peoples that don’t even have access to the Internet, or have access to very difficult, at best, with only a couple of computers in the City”, highlights the expert in aging Mayte Sancho.