Since the pandemic, those over 65 have reported increased feelings of loneliness and social isolation. At the same time, loneliness is among the greatest predictors of health outcomes for older adults. Maintaining meaningful connections with friends and family can drastically lower the risk of dementia, heart disease, and many other health problems.
Luckily, thanks to easy-to-use online services, staying in touch with others is easier than ever before. Learning new programs might seem daunting, so we’ve put together this handy guide to get you started.
ZOOM
Zoom is an online video conferencing program that allows you to connect with up to 500 people at a time! You can use it for video calls and meetings on your computer, tablet or smartphone. Imagine joining your friends for a virtual happy hour. Or how about a mini family reunion so you can see loved ones near and far. Follow these easy steps to get connected on Zoom in no time.
- If you get invited to a Zoom meeting, click the link that came with the meeting invitation. Here’s how that link might look in an email:
- After clicking the link, a new window will appear saying that ZOOM is launching your meeting. You can “download & run Zoom,” but we suggest simply clicking “join from your browser” to make this process simpler:
- When prompted, type in your name and hit enter. Then, your meeting should begin to load.
- In the meeting, there are a few important buttons to be aware of. Note the microphone and video buttons in the bottom left corner. When they have a red slash, that means that they are turned off. Click once to turn them on or off again. On the top right, the gallery view button will show videos of everyone who is in the meeting.
- This detailed guide gives more information and tips for joining a Zoom meeting.
Want to schedule your own meeting? In the spirit of keeping us all connected, Zoom is allowing new users to sign up for free. Get started at Zoom.com.
According to Pew Research, nearly half of all adults over 65 who use the internet are on social networking sites. Not only is it a great way to stay in touch with friends and family, it can also be an exciting place to learn new things and connect with likeminded people.
- First, you’ll need an email address. If you don’t have one, you can create one for free with providers such as Gmail or Yahoo.
- Go to facebook.com. On the home page, you should see this form, which you’ll need to fill out to create your new account:
