Social media can help well-being of the old

WASHINGTON: A new study has revealed that training older people in the use of social media improves cognitive capacity, increases a sense of self-competence and could have a beneficial overall impact on mental health and well-being.

A two-year project funded by the European Union and led by the University of Exeter in partnership with Somerset Care Ltd and Torbay & Southern Devon Health and Care NHS Trust gave a group of vulnerable older adults a specially designed computer, broadband connection and training in how to use them and those who received training became more positive about computers over time, with the participants particularly enjoying connecting with friends and relatives via Skype and email.

It was found that those trained had heightened feelings of self-competence, engaged more in social activity, had a stronger sense of personal identity and showed improved cognitive capacity. These factors indirectly led to overall better mental health and well-being.

Dr Thomas Morton of the University of Exeter, who led the project in the UK, said that human beings were social animals, and it was no surprise that we tended to do better when we had the capacity to connect with others. But what could be surprising was just how important social connections were to cognitive and physical health. People who were socially isolated or who experienced loneliness were more vulnerable to disease and decline. This study showed how technology could be a useful tool for enabling social connections, and that supporting older people in our community to use technology effectively could have important benefits for their health and well-being. (ANI)