Source: Adfero, 16 February 2012

Residents at a home in Hartlepool have become the first in care in the town to benefit from touch-screen computer technology.

The Peterlee Mail reports that 28 residents at the Dinsdale Lodge Care Home are now benefitting from being able to use the Gem interface from SimplyUnite.

This allows them to send emails and pictures, play games and keep in contact with relatives and friends via Skype.

To help residents get used to the software, the system provides on-screen instructions.

Vicky Kendrick, deputy manager of the home, told the paper that computing helps keep the elderly tenants mentally alert and avert boredom.

"I think it will continue to prove extremely popular and I think other homes will follow suit," she said.

Recent research in the US by scientists at Union College, Schenectady, suggested that virtual reality-enhanced exercise could provide more protection for elderly people against mild cognitive impairment than traditional forms of exercise.