A Web-based system to facilitate elders communication with their families living abroad

The aging of the population is a phenomenon faced by most nations. Growing old is often accompanied of a loss of close companionship which has been shown may aggravate the cognitive impairment of elders. From a qualitative study, key issues emerged regarding unmet needs of elders communication that we propose to address with Web-based technology. We decided to create an electronic family newspaper to incorporate elders to the current social networks created by their younger relatives who already communicate through Internet applications, such as IM and e-mail. The system uses Web-based technology to make it accessible from any Web browser for those users living abroad. To serve the needs of elders and make the input of information easier, several autonomous agents help the user to interact with the system that can be accessed by any electronic display with a touch screen, such as a tablet PC.