The Technology Gap

Where the mismatch starts

Taking care of someone else's life is complicated because the systems in the world today rely on technologies that simply do not mesh well with aging people, at least in my experience.

This is not just "technology is hard". It is that modern systems assume digital participation. When that breaks, someone has to bridge the gap. As a care navigator, I do not want that work-around to quietly become you, adding more hours to your responsibility.

A series of small, sensible decisions

My person was still fairly clear-minded when she made a series of decisions to reduce her use of technology. At the time, they made perfect sense to her.

• She cancelled automatic deposit of her pension because she liked cheques and understood, in that moment, that cheques meant money.
• She cancelled the internet because she could not see the cost-benefit of the hundred-dollar-a-month bill.
• She lost her @shaw.ca email because she cancelled the internet, cutting off access to many friends, bills, and memberships.
• She stopped using her bank card because she could not remember the four-digit PIN, and even with tap, the system still required a PIN every thirty or forty transactions.

Each of these decisions made her life feel simpler. She was, in her way, choosing to participate in a more familiar, in-person version of the world.

The world she remembers does not exist anymore

The trouble is that world does not really exist anymore. What felt simpler in the moment created friction later through missed payments, service gaps, and limits on what she can do for herself.

When she lost the ability to enter her PIN, she also lost the ability to do basic grocery shopping without support. So while her choices reduced complexity for her in the moment, they created a growing layer of complexity everywhere else.

This is the technology gap.

What bridging the gap actually looks like

As the care navigator, bridging the gap means getting permission to access their email or setting up a new one. Setting up automatic payments and deposits. Helping manage accounts and logins. It means translating between the digital system and the person who can no longer navigate it.

These "opting out" choices can feel like they should be respected in the name of independence. What I have found is that those decisions are not only about the individual. They shape how manageable the entire situation becomes.

I believe independence is not about removing systems. It is about keeping as many of them functioning as possible for as long as possible.

At a certain point, reducing technology does not actually simplify life. It shifts complexity onto you. Your opportunity, before that shift becomes overwhelming, is to put the right supports back in place so daily life stays more stable and predictable for both of you.