Elderly will struggle to cope when the public authorities go fully digital

Senior Surf Day will attempt to prepare them for the digital age approaching from November 1

Denmark's elderly will really struggle to adapt when the public sector starts carrying out all of its communications digitally from November 1, according to a new report from the Danish national centre for social research, Forskningscenteret SFI.

The report showed that every fourth person over the age of 58 needs assistance using IT, while every fifth person over the age of 74 doesn't have anything to do with daily IT-related tasks such as emails, NemID or online banking.

"Digitalisation is not just about teaching the elderly to use a computer – it's also necessary to vary the help to fit the elderly's attitudes," explained Anu Siren, a senior researcher and co-author of the report, in a press release.

"And not least developing digital solutions that can address some of the concerns the elderly have in terms of personal contact."

READ MORE: Elderly increasingly isolated in rural areas

Senior Surf Day
There are not many elderly over the age of 85 who have used IT in their working lives, and many now need extra help to get started.

About two thirds of the elderly have received assistance from friends and family, while about a half have learned some IT at libraries or via courses.

On Thursday October 9, a nationwide Senior Surf Day will attempt to get the elderly more involved in learning the IT skills they need when the public sector turns digital on November 1, at which point every resident over the age of 15 will have to have their own digital mailbox to communicate with the various public authorities.

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