Great-grandparents
can easily surf the web after some instruction, and become their
great-grandchildren’s friends on Facebook and Twitter, researchers say.
Seniors who move into independent and assisted-living facilities often
become depressed because they lose regular contact with their
established social network. However, communicating via e-mail and social
networking sites appears to be a good remedy in reducing isolation.
Shelia Cotten, a sociology professor at the University of Alabama at
Birmingham, and a team of graduate students introduced the Internet and
its connections on Facebook, Google and Twitter to 80- and 90-year-olds
in such facilities. In the study, the seniors were given eight-week
computer-training courses. Fewer than 20% of the study participants had
used computers beforehand, but after a couple of weeks in class, they
surf the Internet just like their grandkids, Cotten said. The study
found Internet use reduced depression by 20% to 28% among older, retired
adults.
