Definitely.. There is lot of improvement in the elderly's quality of life in terms of making them independent and in turn coping with loneliness.. One of my student has worked on this topic 

Thank you Kiran, do you have any studies on this topic or useful links for me?

This will be a good thought.

Just note that old people value having responsibility in the community and thus contributing to its development. ICT packages should therefore focus on this value so as to give the old people a fulfilling world whilst keeping them company and active.

Yes, this is an important question!

Shelia Cotten and colleagues have done great research on this topic. The following is one example:

Cotten, Shelia R., William A. Anderson, and Brandi M. McCullough. 2013. "Impact of Internet Use on Loneliness and Contact with Others Among Older Adults: Cross-Sectional Analysis." Journal of Medical Internet Research 15(2):e39. doi:10.2196/jmir.2306. 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3636305/

We learned together with Beata Ziewiec elderly people who can not even turn on the computer. After several meetings they were able to turn on the computer, find in the Internet useful informations. They could also set up an email account, send an email. More details know Beata Ziewiec.

one of the first things the new definition of health (Hubner,2011) says is that in order to feel healthy one must feel usefully. ICT can help people to feel useful. There ar overlays that make it realy easy for people to learn how to use ICT. But on the other hand if you read the study about loneliness and socialmedia you will think it doesn't help. I think there must be done more studies in this area before we can really answer this question. 

Article The relation between social network site usage and lonelines...

I'm the author of the abovementioned manuscript. Although the study shows that no clear-cut relation between loneliness/mental health and social media usage exist, it cannot be ruled out there indeed is a relationship (but we just didn’t find it). However, just providing older adults with the skills for ICT usage, doesn’t, at least in my opinion, ‘solve’ the problem of loneliness. Simply because it is merely not the amount of relations that is absent when one is lonely, but the absence of meaningful relationships. Hence, it may just come down to the question if meaningful relationships can be made by using ICT….? Maybe that question can be better answered using qualitative research then quantitative, since it all about how one feels.

Thank you all so much for your valuable input! I will have a look at the studies and papers you provided. My understanding until now is that ICT can help in a lot of ways, but not automatically solves underlying social problems like a missing sense in life (maybe caused by a culture that excludes the elderly) and missing social belonging (maybe related to migration and an increasing "worldview gab" between generations).

Exactly Sil,

It wasn't my idea to rule out your findings. Just try to tell also that there must be more research on that subject. Just as you told above. Meaningful relationships is the answer indeed. Leaves us with the difficulty that only the lonely person themselves can judge about the meaningfulness of a relationship.

In the last brainstorm that we did with thirty people from KBO Brabant (association of elderly) one group responded:

-loneliness is a combination from, the situation, the state of mind and the character from the lonely person. And trough the combination of those factors the behavior of the lonely people will be formed and also what they accept as a meaningful relationship and even further, a meaningful life-.

I Personally think those respondents  have a point there. Lonely people often just want only that relationship witch they desire and they don't want  to settle for something else. This assumption could perhaps be a subject for a very useful study. 

Hi Jacqueline,

Check out my new feasibility paper on LISTEN..we are thinking of taking the next phase of LISTEN to a tech based intervention

As a gerontologist, I know of older adults who were isolated due to disability and when introduced to the iPad, expanded their world and reconnected with family and friends.  The iPad was strongly resisted initially as an intimidating gadget.  However, it is so user-friendly that these older people became enthused.  Older clients are sending/receiving email, have facebook accounts, shop, watch movies, and other engaging activities.  While the iPad has limited utility for social "engagement," I believe it can expand the horizons for isolated individuals of any age. 

Neil Postman refers in Technopoly that "Technological change is neither additive nor subtractive. It is ecological". In the same vein, I believe that ICT neither increases nor decreases isolation. However, they can change the way it is perceived.

We are currently working on a qualitative study which focuses on why older adults use social media and what it means to them and their wellbeing. Stay tuned...

Hi Sil,

that sounds promizing! I would be thrilled to read that one, please keep me updated! I am planning to start some social initiatives with local elderly, so maybe I can put your results into practise here in Germany afterwards :)