ElderWeb

Computer Age Brings Wide New World to Golden Age

Washington Post, March 19, 2000

By Stan Hinden

What do retirees do in their spare time? If they're like many of my friends and neighbors, they spend a lot of time on their computers, sending and answering e-mail and exploring the vast resources of the Internet. The computer has added a new dimension to the lives of many retirees--including this retired journalist. Once you learn to use a computer, it doesn't take long to realize that e-mail and the Internet are powerful ways to communicate and to acquire information. With scores of search engines and millions of Web sites to choose from, you can find out almost anything you want to know--on almost any subject--with a few clicks of the mouse. The Internet, I find, is simultaneously a vast library, massive bazaar, global university and unending playground. With equal ease, you can visit the paintings in the National Gallery of Art or enjoy the scenic beauty of America's national parks without leaving your chair. As you can tell, I still get a "gee whiz" feeling every time I log on to the Internet. Perhaps it's because I began my journalism career in the era of the manual typewriter and the mimeograph machine. Now, in the electronic era, I write on a computer and use the Internet to do research. Retirement is often described as a time of life that offers new opportunities for personal growth and self-fulfillment. From what I can see, the Internet has made it possible for my fellow retirees to enjoy their leisure time in ways that are both satisfying and productive. To learn more about the way the Internet has affected the lives of retirees, I recently spent some time talking with residents of Leisure World, a retirement community in Silver Spring. Hundreds of residents have learned to use a computer by taking courses at the Leisure World Computer Center. The nonprofit center was created in 1994. Many seniors take computer courses primarily so they can use e-mail, I was told by Zealey Gerber, 77, a retired manufacturer. He is president of the center's PC Users Group. Gerber said he uses e-mail to communicate with his three daughters. One lives in Paris, one in Portland, Ore., and one in the District. Gerber said he believes e-mail brings families closer together. "It's a great benefit for people who want to take advantage of it," Gerber said. Jackie Rabinow, 71, a retired schoolteacher, agrees. "The big thing for a lot of new computer users," Rabinow said, "is that it lets them communicate with their grandchildren and their sons and daughters. It really makes a difference in their lives." Retirees, she said, find e-mail easier, quicker and cheaper than making long-distance phone calls or paying for postage. Rabinow, who teaches at the Leisure World Computer Center, observed: "The computer opens up a whole new world for people, especially for shut-ins." Rabinow noted that the computer and the Internet are especially useful for retirees who have physical problems and find it difficult to get around. Roy Rosfeld, 76, a retired government lawyer, is president of the Leisure World Computer Center. Rosfeld has taught scores of retirees how to use computers and get on the Internet. Often, he said, his students have no previous computer experience and have to start from scratch. Despite that, Rosfeld said, his students make up for their inexperience with enthusiasm. "They are motivated. They want to learn. And their eagerness is outstanding," he said. Rosfeld, Rabinow and Gerber are avid users of the Internet, but it would be hard to be as enthusiastic about it as Sidney Eichner, 73, and his wife, Irene, 70. The couple operated a wholesale furniture business before they retired. After retirement, they took several computer courses at Leisure World and elsewhere. Today, the Eichners virtually live online. They do their banking and pay their bills online, and they love the process. Says Irene Eichner: "It's so easy. It takes three minutes to reconcile my bank account." When Irene Eichner was faced with her second bout with breast cancer in 12 years, she went on the Internet to gather information about chemotherapy and other forms of treatment. The opportunity to collect a large amount of information in a short time was important to her, Eichner said, because she felt better equipped to talk to her doctor. "It also gave me more confidence in making my decisions," she said. The Eichners also use the Internet to manage their investments and make travel reservations. They take virtual tours of foreign countries online. And they particularly like e-mail and the ability to correspond with children, grandchildren, friends and relatives. "I found I was reconnecting with family and relatives. And I was saving money on my telephone bill," Irene Eichner said. While the Internet has its pleasures, it also has its perils, as I have discovered. It is easy to become so fascinated by the stream of information available on the Internet that it devours your time. M any Web sites provide electronic links to other sites, and if you're not careful you can spend hours trekking through the maze of the Internet until you forget why you logged on in the first place. The question of whether heavy use of the Internet causes people to spend less time socializing with friends and family is being widely discussed these days. So, I asked Ann Wrixon, the president and chief executive of SeniorNet, about the problem of "social isolation." SeniorNet, which has 33,000 members, is a nonprofit group that operates two Web sites and has taught computer skills to thousands of retirees at SeniorNet Learning Centers around the country. "Clearly you need balance," Wrixon said. "You have to have a real-life community. You can't just have an online community. At SeniorNet, we have an off-line, real-life community where people can meet face to face." SeniorNet, formed in 1986, operates popular sites on the Web (www.seniornet.org) and America Online (keyword SeniorNet). SeniorNet has a $35 annual membership fee and charges $5 to $35 for its courses. With an annual budget of $2.5 million, SeniorNet operates 175 learning centers, staffed by volunteers. Wrixon said SeniorNet hopes to have 300 centers by 2002. Her organization gets a substantial amount of financial and product support from IBM, Microsoft and other major players in the computer business. IBM, for example, funds 75 of the 175 learning centers. And 2,000 of the 4,000 SeniorNet volunteer teachers are IBM retirees. Learning centers are set up in senior centers, community centers, libraries and hospitals. SeniorNet membership has grown at an annualized rate of about 17 percent a year for the past five years. About 90 percent of the people who join SeniorNet take some of the courses that are offered at the learning centers, a staff member said. To locate a SeniorNet Learning Center, call 1-800-747-6848 and ask for the number of the center closest to your home. Then call that number to find out about their courses. The experience at SeniorNet, Wrixon said, is that as some retirees improve their computer skills, they begin teaching other seniors. Often, they use their new skills to publish newsletters for their churches or community organizations. The growth in Internet activity by older people also can be seen at AARP, the nation's largest organization of people over age 50. AARP, which is based in Washington, operates the www.aarp.org Web site as well as a site on America Online (keyword: AARP). Mark Carpenter, director of interactive services at AARP, noted these trends among AARP's 33 million members: * Use of computers: In 1997, about 40 percent of AARP members said they used computers. In 1998, the figure rose to 48 percent. * Visits to AARP's Web and AOL sites: In 1998, the AARP sites recorded 4.4 million visits. In 1999, the number rose to 6.4 million. * E-mail: AARP gets many phone calls, letters and e-mail messages from its members about such subjects as health care and Social Security. In 1998, AARP got 104,000 such e-mails. In 1999, the number of e-mails nearly doubled--rising to 205,000. AARP has a staff of six to eight people who answer the e-mail from members, Carpenter said. AARP statistics show that computer use is highest among people age 50 to 55 but that it declines sharply for older age groups. In the 50-to-55 group, about 75 percent of AARP members say they use computers. (Many of these people are still working full time.) But from ages 65 to 74, only 39 percent say they use computers. A similar pattern was discovered in several other studies of computer use by older people. In the years ahead, the number of retirees owning computers and using the Internet can be expected to grow steadily. Members of the baby-boom generation, who will begin to turn 65 in 2010, already are intimately familiar with computers and the Internet. When the baby boomers get into their seventies and eighties, they will be far more computer-literate than most people of those ages are today. I talked about this idea with Craig Spiezle, former director of Microsoft's senior initiative, a program that introduced seniors to computers. Spiezle, 43, is nowthe founder and president of the Agelight Institute (www.agelight.com). Spiezle's general view is that computer skills can help older Americans remain independent and employable well into their retirement years. As head of Agelight, Spiezle said, he plans to be an advocate for "the development of multi-generation programs, in which one generation can learn from the other." The impact of the Internet, Spiezle said, is to "energize and empower consumers" by giving them the information they need--whether on health or investments or other subjects--so they can make informed choices. The Internet, he added, has the power to vastly improve the lives of older people. What is perfectly clear to me is that when my children retire around 2020 or 2025, the world will be a very different place than it was when my wife, Sara, and I retired in the late 1990s. But overall, I think we were lucky to be members of the generation that saw mankind's earliest journeys into both outer space and cyberspace. Researcher Richard Drezen contributed to this column. Stan Hinden will discuss seniors going online in a live chat Tuesday at 1 p.m. at www.washingtonpost.com/ liveonline. Web Sites for Seniors The following is a selection of Web sites containing information of interest to retirees and senior citizens. One of the largest lists of senior-related sites can be found at the AARP Web site (www.aarp.org). The list is called "Guide to Internet Resources Related to Aging." The guide contains links to Web sites of various organizations including some devoted to specific diseases, such as Alzheimer's, diabetes and breast and prostate cancer. General Interest Here are some Web sites of general interest to retirees and seniors: * SeniorNet (www.seniornet.org). Founded in 1986, the organization provides computer training for older Americans at 175 centers around the country. * Elder Web (www.elderweb.com). Sources of information for professionals and family caregivers. * SeniorCom(www.senior.com). The site provides a wide variety of health, legal, financial and other information. * Senior Sites (www.seniorsites.com). Provides a listing of nonprofit providers of senior housing, health care and services. * Elderhostel (www.elderhostel.org). Describes educational and travel programs for seniors at home and abroad. * Seniors.com (www.seniors.com). A site that offers a variety of information on senior topics. * GenerationA.com (www.generationa.com). A site with sophisticated content on health, finance, travel and more. * Access America for Seniors (www.seniors.gov). This is a federal interagency Web site that offers consumer information from 19 government agencies. Government The following are federal government sites that seniors and retirees may find useful: * Administration on Aging (www.aoa.dhhs.gov). Information from the federal agency that deals with issues affecting older Americans. * Department of Health and Human Services (www.os.dhhs.gov). Includes computer links to many of the department's agencies. * Health Care Financing Administration (www.hcfa.gov). The operations of the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Also: www.medicare.gov, the official Medicare site, which contains comparisons of Medicare and Medigap policies. * National Institutes of Health (www.nih.gov). Provides links to several institutes, including the National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. * Social Security Administration (www.ssa.gov). Everything you ever wanted to know about Social Security and its many services.