Net-wise seniors run errands online

Simplify day-to-day tasks such as grocery shopping and finding pension information

By Sharon Oosthoek

For many older Canadians, computer technology is both alien and intimidating. And yet the benefits are almost overwhelming, especially for those whose health or lack of transport keep them close to home.

Fortunately, as more seniors go online, they do more with their computers and their abilities grow exponentially.

Net-savvy seniors can do much more online than e-mail photos of grandchildren. They can investigate worrisome medical symptoms, shop, pay bills and even book a golden-years getaway.

These are all tasks Sky Lamothe sees her members do online. Lamothe manages the chat rooms and forums for Canada’s Association for the Fifty-Plus web site.

Statistics Canada reports that besides general browsing, the most common web activity among Canadians is searching for medical and health information. Almost two-thirds of Canadian households fall into this category.

Lamothe says travel and health are the most commonly researched topics on her site, as well as snowbirding in Florida and treating leg cramps in the middle of the night.

To help retirees make the most of the Internet, we’ve talked to Lamothe and other plugged-in seniors who provide practical tips for finding what they need online.

Health

Lamothe recommends several sites for reliable health information, including Medbroadcast, which features drug information and support groups, and the Public Health Agency of Canada. She also likes to consult the American Mayo Clinic site.

“I use it (the Net) to research health questions,” says Hiltrud Grossmann, a senior citizen from Edmonton. “I look for a forum, read through and see what experiences other people have had. For example, I looked for menopause symptoms, like hot flashes, to try to find how to relieve them.”

Travel

Forums can help seniors decide where to book their travel destinations. Lamothe recommends her site discuss.50plus.com’s travel forum. “[There is] a lot of archived discussion on the Algarve, Portugal district, for example, as well as info on Manzanillo, Mexico — both popular snowbird destinations.”

Janet Hanbury of Kelowna, B.C., regularly shares her expertise on travel to Australia and New Zealand with forum participants. “I brief them on hotels and costs and where to eat. I put them onto travel agents who specialize in Down Under,” she says.

Lamothe also recommends Journeywoman, a site geared to women travellers. Click here for more information on how to navigate a travel web site.

Shopping

Some savvy seniors also go online to get groceries and prescriptions delivered to their home — a convenient and fast way to obtain what you need without leaving the house.

Lamothe says many seniors she meets in her forums and chat rooms are venturing into online shopping. Some buy and sell on eBay.

Banking

All the major banks have online services where you can do your daily banking and more.

“I go online to check my husband’s stocks and see how much money we’re losing,” laughs Grossman, who checks her portfolio (even in the winter when she’s in Portugal) on Canada.com. “I can even look up the reasons to see why certain stocks are doing poorly.”

If you want to know more about paying bills online, check out our guide. Learn how to organize all of your household transactions in one place.

Lamothe’s recommendations for checking online finances include The Globe and Mail investor’s site and Canoe Money.

Genealogy

Tracking family history is another popular pastime among seniors. “Sometimes they do it for their grandkids. There’s a big interest in that,” says Lamothe. She recommends Cyndi’s List — a comprehensive reference to genealogical tools on the Internet — Global Genealogy & History Shoppe and FamilySearch.

Government services

Seniors may find it useful to research information on pensions, senior citizen’s identity cards and home care programs across the country. Check out the federal government’s Seniors Canada On-line, an easy-to-use guide to all national seniors’ programs. The site even provides a button that allows you to increase text size for easier reading.

Technical info

Hanbury likes to keep up to speed on the latest in computer technology by visiting sites such as CNET, G4techTV and Major Geeks. She uses search engines such as Bing. Hanbury is also the moderator on the Seniors Helping Seniors forum, which deals with issues such as photography, computer hardware and software, and home maintenance.

“If seniors don’t keep the mind active, they become very old,” says Hanbury who used the computer to regain her cognitive skills after suffering from chronic pain.

Seniors must be safety-savvy

Like anyone online, seniors need to judge information based on its source. “People can still get glassy-eyed about the Internet,” says Lamothe. “Our members will warn people not to take everything they see on the Internet at face value.”

Seniors must be vigilant about how much personal information they give online. “Seniors might not be as aware as people who’ve been brought up using computers,” warns Lamothe. “In our chat rooms, if they’ve got their full name as part of their e-mail address and if they say, ‘I’m from Toronto,’ then right there someone can look up their phone number. So I warn them.”

Windows Live Toolbar

Installing the Windows Live Toolbar with Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher makes it easier to visit favourite web sites by letting users add custom buttons to the browser that link directly to many of the sites discussed here, including eBay and CNET.