Digital Detox

Too much of a good thing?

As a long-time subscriber to The New York Times, I sometimes go down the Wirecutter rabbit hole. If you’re not familiar with it, Wirecutter includes product and service reviews on a wide range of consumer products. Articles include recommendations on everything from kitchen gadgets to clothes to food to battery chargers. There is also an online store where some of the featured items may be purchased, or not. I am, at best, a casual reader of Wirecutter. I am unlikely to buy a box of anchovies online, or spend $170.00 on a fitted sheet, but the product reviews can be helpful, or at least fun to read.

Annemarie Conte writes a regular column for the New York Times’ Wirecutter Guide. She recently wrote of her family’s experiment with a month of “digital detox.” Conte explained how their phone habits had become out of balance, causing a negative impact in their connections with “actual physical things.” The detox was not an outright ban on technology, but an effort to set limits and find balance. There were limits on screen time and multi-tasking, (One rule was that the phone was left outside the bedroom when going to sleep.)

During their month of digital detox, Conte and her daughter visited the author’s mom, who is living with dementia. She describes the meaningful interactions between her mother and her child, and how the lack of on-screen distraction helped build conversation. There was more time spent together as family, better sleep hygiene, and less doomscrolling on the phone.

That a staff writer for a website devoted to tech news and products wrote about her need to disconnect with her digital media tells you that, as a society, we all have complicated relationships with technology. (“Wirecutter” is a reference to trimming online clutter, not a preference for analog or off-line information sources.) Conte herself notes the important role of tech in her professional life, and the value of the internet as a resource for information, communication and connection. Technology is a mixed blessing, including for older adults.

Technology and Aging

Mixed blessing or not, technology plays an ever-increasing role in our daily lives, at any age. Recent public conversations about AI, data centers and Flock cameras have focused on costs and privacy concerns. But use and acceptance of technology are widespread, and there are many promising examples of how technology can help address health needs and improve social connections among older adults.

In Promoting healthy aging in a digital world: leveraging technology for enhanced elderly care and wellbeing, an article published in Frontiers in Aging earlier this year, the authors explore the expansion of digital health technologies (DHTs) and their potential for supporting health care. There are a wide range of DHTs, including wearable sensors (your iWatch or FitBit), Artificial Intelligent (AI), robotics and Virtual Reality (VR) tools. The authors note the potential for DHTs, especially in addressing the health needs of individuals who require long-term services and supports, such as those with chronic disease, mobility impairment, cognitive decline and/or social isolation. They also note barriers to adoption, including the costs and availability of technology. In response to aging populations, countries should adapt public programs to better support older adults, including by ensuring sustainable social security, universal healthcare, and long-term care systems (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, 2022).

There is great potential for technology in improving care and quality of life for older adults and family caregivers. Some of it is widely used today. If you use MyChart to schedule a medical appointment or order a prescription refill, you are accessing your doctor or pharmacist using a module built on Epic’s proprietary patient management system. The same system also allows EMTs to access medical information when treating a person who has suffered a heart attack. I keep track of my calories (and my steps) in an app on my iPhone. One of the innovations in care during the COVID-19 pandemic was the adoption of telemedicine and remote care, relying not on twenty-first century computer tech, but the availability of a telephone. Home monitoring devices and medication dispensers are other examples of existing technology being applied to health promotion and treatment. These are DHTs that rely on the same tech found in a garage door opener or thermostat. Not all tech is AI.

Benjamin Rose is also using technology to expand the reach of our services for older adults. Meals on Wheels clients get messages on their phone if there are weather delays in getting their meals. Drivers use scheduling software to plan the most efficient routes for delivery. Caregivers can access information about services in their area, or contact a Care Navigator, using their phone or computer. There is an “Ask Rose” feature on our website that uses a chat bot to help people find articles, inquire about services or sign-up for classes. We recently launched an updated version of SHARE, our program that helps caregivers and their loved ones with dementia have a voice in care planning, adapting pen-and-paper exercises into a tablet-friendly format. And we are exploring new opportunities to use technology, including AI, to expand access to care navigation and care transitions resources, and engage older adults and their caregivers in meaningful conversations about topics important to them. You can learn more about these innovations on our website.

Technology Adoption Among Older Aging

One of the stereotypes of older adults and technology is that older adults resist, or do not understand it. That ageist view does not bear up under scrutiny. An AARP survey of its members found that two-thirds of its members say that “technology enriches their lives.” The majority report using smart devices to help with security, appliances or utilities, as well as fitness trackers and telemedicine apps. A larger percentage use apps to access games, books or news, and weather updates.

Older adults are an important consumer market for technology. According to AARP, “adults 50 and older have an average of seven tech devices and use them daily.” Smartphones are the most common, and users report they have upgraded their phones within the past two years. They are also likely to purchase apps to stream movies, listen to music, exercise or manage home security. (My father-in-law has had an Amazon Prime account longer than I have.) There is a small, but growing interest and adoption of generative AI tools. Tech is part of their daily lives.

The Digital Divide

Despite the growth in adoption of tech devices, there are still barriers to their use among older adults. Privacy concerns and costs are often cited as factors. Infrastructure can also limit access.

Online shopping, streaming or mapping tools are convenient, but they also leave a digital trail about what you watch, what you buy or where you go. Financial information, medical records and other personal data can be captured and shared (or sold) by the sites one visits. Concerns over privacy include risks of identity theft. Online scams that target older adults for financial exploitation, personal data or remote access to their devices are growing areas of cybercrime. Online consumers of any age are right to be wary of the information they share online, and with whom they share it.

Cost concerns also limit access to technology, especially for older adults on fixed incomes. Monthly plans for smartphones can cost fifty dollars per month or more. That does not include the costs of apps or usage fees. Many plans charge a separate amount for the device, either to buy or on a monthly rental, adding to the cost. Other tech, including some DHTs noted above, require broadband access or a “hot spot” to work effectively. Add one or more streaming services and the monthly household expense for tech access and easily exceed 200 dollars per month. For a population that is already stretched to cover housing, healthcare and food costs, tech devices can be luxury items they cannot afford. In our 2025 Client Experience Survey, 52 percent of respondents said they needed assistance with housing, rent or utilities; and nearly half (49 percent) cited the need for help with access to technology, the internet or electronic devices.

Infrastructure also limits use. In a 2022 survey, nearly 60 percent of Benjamin Rose clients reported they did not have internet access available to them. Even if they owned a smart phone, tablet or computer, they were limited in their abilities to use it. This is common in urban areas with older infrastructure, as well as in rural communities where low-population density makes it less attractive for companies to invest in the systems that support Wi-Fi. Cleveland (and Ohio overall) has made progress in recent years in expanding broadband access, but there are still gaps in service that limit the ability of residents to use technology effectively. And those are often also areas with an aging population. One of the ways Benjamin Rose addresses the digital divide is COST (Connecting Our Seniors to Technology), a program that includes financial and computer literacy training, a free computer for graduates and inexpensive broadband access. Just as Annemarie Conte discovered during her month of Digital Detox, there can be “too much of a good thing.” Technology offers great promise to make our lives easier, even healthier. But “all things in moderation” is a good maxim to follow. Any conversation about implementing technology should consider not only what it can do, but how people are able to access it. Technology is a tool, not a replacement for high-quality care, services and supports on the aging journey.