With the elections on the horizon in Québec, I doubt there will be much bandwidth to celebrate and acknowledge National Seniors Day. Yet here we are on October 1, and I want to wish you a happy National Seniors Day!
What does that even mean? To me, knowing that we are all aging and are a part of an aging population, there is no better moment to talk candidly about the needs surrounding aging in our boardrooms, in our policies, in our technologies and at our kitchen tables.
Here are the three main areas where I see growing concern, and a deafening silence that surrounds the subject.
Usability and Accessibility of Technology
Hot off the press, voters are now being asked to scan a QR code to access information on how to vote, but what if they don’t have a device? What if someone does not have access to the internet, a functioning computer (one not collecting dust anyways), or an email address? How does a person educate themselves to vote for platforms they believe in when they cannot access the information in the first place?
I think of a well-educated lady who had had a stroke and was relearning everything. Using a remote control became a challenge. Through her aphasia she said ‘Volume button goes left to right. Volume should go up and down. I don’t understand.’ The design didn’t match her cognitive reality.
For another client who worked in a bank her whole life, couldn’t authenticate herself to update her address because the system required a text to a cell phone. She had a landline and wasn’t comfortable with mobile devices. Suddenly, she was unable to pay her bills.
These are not isolated cases. They are everyday realities for a growing segment of the population.
Globalization and the Shrinking Circle of Support
With smaller families and children building lives across countries and oceans who is there, day-to-day, to help elderly parents at home?
While visiting a senior living option in Portugal, the manager hosting my visit was torn because she worked with seniors every day, yet her own elderly mother in South Africa needed help. Neither one could relocate, and her only brother was living in Ireland. Yes, sending money can help but it does not provide immediate support for an urgent task at hand, like helping to read a government letter, gaining access to pay bills, or have a comforting soul to help understand a medical procedure.
Just last week I received calls from Ontario, Panama, Vietnam and Switzerland all seeking help for a loved one in Montreal. We are living longer, more isolated, and often find ourselves shorthanded knowing where to find support.
Our Language and the Power It Holds
If we take a moment to hear how we speak about aging, we might be shocked. When a senior faces a change in their autonomy, this is what I hear daily: she has to, they must, we’ll force them, we’ll place them, we’ll put them over there. It is bulldozing.
If we spoke to our children this way, we would be reprimanded. Aren’t we all children at heart inside?
Our words matter at every step and at every age. They shape our thoughts and actions. We can create change by using empowering language like: help, assist, explore, find solutions or adapt and adjust to our current needs and new realities. These words honour the person, not the problem.
Accessibility at the Core
Accessibility and usability sit at the heart of our everyday tasks. How high a shelf is. How heavy a door is. How buttons on machines are designed. How technology is built for accessibility. The ease of park benches. How faucets are designed to be beautiful but easy to open. Every detail matters.
It is my strong belief that one empowering word at a time, we can think of the user to design and support for accessibility and usability for every age, because we are all aging. Our parents are aging. Our neighbours are aging. And we need to talk about aging so we can adjust accordingly.
As we mark National Seniors Day let’s remember that accessibility is practical. Dignity includes having a voice at every table, even the ballot box.
To celebrate National Seniors Day, you are invited to see the exhibit Time Flies by Marie-Claude Giguère, hosted by Verdun à l’avant scene, at the Bibliothèque Jacqueline de Repentigny, 5955 Bannantyne in Verdun. The show runs from September 24 to October 11.