How Has Technology Affected Senior Citizens?
How has Technology Affected Senior Citizens in China?
Original
Over the last 30 years, China’s technology has developed rapidly, making life more and more convenient to many of its citizens. Mobile phones have helped to connect people all over China and computers have helped people to organize their work and share information easily. Owing to the length of time that they have spent on this Earth, senior citizens in China will have experienced two very different worlds, having seen first hand the way in which technology has advanced throughout their lifetime. How have senior citizens been affected by this rapid advancement in technology? The following essay will set out to answer this question.
A person’s circumstances change in many different ways as they become older and senior citizen’s needs will therefore be very different to middle aged and even younger members of society. Most obviously, an elderly person’s body will begin to become weaker, and their eyes ears, muscles and joints will not function as effectively as they did before. Technology has been able to assist the elderly in many of these aspects, providing glasses, hearing aids, walking aids and wheelchairs, respectively. In addition to this, medicines are becoming more and more advanced and are allowing the elderly to live longer than before. In 2010 the World Health Organization (WHO) released statistics showing that the average life expectancy in 1960 was 36, compared with 74.5 in 2010.
Not only does a person’s physical situation change as they age, but also their social situation. In their middle age, most people will get married and have at least one child to devote their time to. Where children used to continue caring for their parents in their own home before, the influence of the West means that many children now prefer not to live with their parents after marrying. This, combined with the death of a spouse, can make a senior citizen’s life very lonely. Although far from
Original
Over the last 30 years, China’s technology has developed rapidly, making life more and more convenient to many of its citizens. Mobile phones have helped to connect people all over China and computers have helped people to organize their work and share information easily. Owing to the length of time that they have spent on this Earth, senior citizens in China will have experienced two very different worlds, having seen first hand the way in which technology has advanced throughout their lifetime. How have senior citizens been affected by this rapid advancement in technology? The following essay will set out to answer this question.
A person’s circumstances change in many different ways as they become older and senior citizen’s needs will therefore be very different to middle aged and even younger members of society. Most obviously, an elderly person’s body will begin to become weaker, and their eyes ears, muscles and joints will not function as effectively as they did before. Technology has been able to assist the elderly in many of these aspects, providing glasses, hearing aids, walking aids and wheelchairs, respectively. In addition to this, medicines are becoming more and more advanced and are allowing the elderly to live longer than before. In 2010 the World Health Organization (WHO) released statistics showing that the average life expectancy in 1960 was 36, compared with 74.5 in 2010.
Not only does a person’s physical situation change as they age, but also their social situation. In their middle age, most people will get married and have at least one child to devote their time to. Where children used to continue caring for their parents in their own home before, the influence of the West means that many children now prefer not to live with their parents after marrying. This, combined with the death of a spouse, can make a senior citizen’s life very lonely. Although far from
Bibliography: http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/country-health-profile/china http://www.cybercollege.com/frtv/frtv030.htm