Abstract:

The degree of involvement of senior people and people with special needs into the public life manifests the level of development of society. Modern technologies enable to solve various socio-economic issues with older adults participation more effectively. With this in mind, the Laboratory for the Improvement of Wellbeing Technologies of Older Adults of TPU conducted the series  of sociological surveys addressing 1500 respondents in Tomsk region. The recent study based on these surveys is aimed at characterization of crowdsourcing technologies as a tools for involving older people into the socio-economic processes as active actors. The research is focused on   the material, economic, social and emotional aspects of aging as against physiological ones. The study applies the original Storygram-platform method which is invented especially for the purpose of interviewing senior adults with the use of the artifacts of their life such as photos, letters and other memorabilia. The data obtained process with the tools of statistic and interpretative analyses. The study shows that money does not play a key role in ensuring satisfaction with life for the older Tomsk generation. The main values shared by the respondents are health and family which confirms the findings of OECD experts (Better life Index for Russia). Portraiture of a lonely Tomsk-citizen reveals that the most lamentable destiny refers non-working pensioners, women aged 76-80 years living separately from their relatives in the city with incompleted higher education and low income. Next, the analysis of correlation between the phenomenon of loneliness and the lack of job for aged people displays their direct interdependence. While correlation between the computer technology use and sense of isolation is weak but statistically significant. Data shows there is deficiency of technologies corresponding to the interests and capacities of the elderly. We formulated the following directions of technologies to develop well-being: (1) improvement of quality of life (2) increase of social activity (3) involvement in key social and economic processes (4) attraction of atypical investors (5) communication technologies (6) adaptation of information technologies to special needs (7) adaptation of educational technologies to special requests (8) multi-subject investments. We clarified crowdsourcing effectively using (1) to form elderly support funds (2) to implement a socially active role (3) to assess social services and health care system (4) to promote high-technology (5) to share information (6) to develop golden volunteering (7) to create a mentoring ground (8) to crowdfund socially significant projects.