Session 1: Confusion

Text Messaging or Messaging Apps

Introduction

There’s no doubt about it – the way we communicate has drastically changed over the past year with more and more people using smartphones. Texting, message apps or instant messages (IM) with emoji’s, LOL’s, OMG’s and other abbreviations are now mainstream methods of communication. All smartphones come preloaded with a messaging app that allows you to send and receive texts. These text messages are billed by your provider against your cellular phone plan. Another way to communicate with people is by using a third-party messaging app that is downloaded from the Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store. These apps use your data plan or Wi-Fi and do not count against the texting limits of your phone bill.

Messaging apps or social media in general have the potential to support social interactions and contribute to the well-being. They can help overcome social exclusion by increasing the use of information and communication technology (ICT) and improving their quality of life through social participation.

A study showed that the use of messaging apps has an intensifying effect on social relations of older users. Messaging apps are used very consciously to achieve positive ends by allowing older users to select and invest time in meaningful relationships. For further information see https://www.scitepress.org/Papers/2020/94701/94701.pdf

Messaging apps are especially useful for folks that are communicating across international borders because there are no charges associated with using the apps to message, video chat or send photos/videos if you are on Wi-Fi.

Key messages

Texting, chatting and online messaging can be used for much more than simply communicating with your friends. Online communication can help people build and develop social skills and gives a platform to share their skills and help each other out. They can also be tools that help people learn and master important skills.

How online messaging can improve social skills
Online messaging apps are often used by people to talk to their friend and peers. Staying connected with your friends is valuable, but online messaging also gives people opportunities to develop their social skills in a range of formal and informal contexts.

Online messaging can help people to:

appreciate different perspectives
understand the difference between appropriate and inappropriate behaviour
.

How online messaging gives an opportunity to help each other
When young people can contact friends their own age, it makes it easier for them to ask for help. We assume that this is true for older people as well. They can discuss a range of topics, and even help each other understand things that might confuse them.

Chatting with peers online can help you to:

discuss diagnoses or actual news you didn’t understand
talk to a friend about something that’s happened
develop and refine new or creative ideas.
https://www.digitalcitizenship.nsw.edu.au/articles/what-are-the-benefits-of-chat-and-messaging

Social media helps people communicate, share and learn, and offers opportunity to practice key 21st century skills needed in the future.

How can social media assist in building digital skills?
Technology has become a core part of our world. Ongoing developments into mixed reality, automation and artificial intelligence will have a major impact on what jobs but also care look like in the future. For this reason, digital skills are becoming not only important, but essential. People can use social media to develop these skills.

Social media can help build digital skills in:

navigating and sharing digital content
responsible online interaction
How can instant messaging help you learn?
Staying informed, follow some news, being able to comment- tool for communication for other target groups
Using social media and the internet help you with learning. The Internet has given us access to huge amounts of quality information, and social media is a great tool for finding and sharing quality information. You can find different types of information about areas of interest and topics. Social media can also connect you with experts and communities of learners.

Learning on instant messaging apps can occur when:

reading and recommending articles
asking questions
replying to posts
watching video tutorials
talking with friends.
discussing topics with other people
How can instant messaging groups help people learn about themselves and others?
In instant messaging apps you can create groups for example for you family members or friends who are all interested in cooking. Surveys show that a majority who spent time in online groups said that those groups helped them meet new people, feel more accepted, work through their feelings on important issues and get through tough times in their life.

In general, these groups can provide:

a sense of belonging and community
access to support from like-minded individuals
an appreciation of different perspectives
reduced isolation
a monitored discussion environment.
‍How text messaging can improve care?

In senior living communities, text messaging stands to improve communications with both residents and their families. Text messaging in senior living facilities can give a greater sense of personalization, and help to build a greater rapport with the community. Not all residents or their families will want to make use of text messaging, but adding it as a feature of a senior living facility’s communications system stands to improve overall satisfaction in care.

Here are 4 Benefits of Using Text Messaging in Senior Living Communications:

Improved efficiency of internal communications

Gone are the days of wearing radio headsets to communicate with on-floor staff. Group text messaging offers the ability to efficiently and discretely share internal communications with caregivers and staff. This does require the use of a mobile app, which most cloud providers offer as part of their services. Because senior living environments require caregivers and staff to be constantly on the move, using mobile technology and internal group text messaging through a dedicated mobile application is a fantastic way to improve the pace and clarity of certain internal communications among team members.

A New Way to Manage the Schedule

Maintaining a steady schedule is an essential part of running a senior living facility. Text messaging in Senior Living can be used to facilitate the scheduling of appointments with residents, their families, and to send confirmation messages to all of them. They also allow for a seamless means to reschedule or cancel appointments, which stands to save senior living facilities money by reducing the incidences of no-shows for certain types of appointments. Adding text messaging to the mix expands a senior living facility’s breadth of communications to give everyone a chance to alter any plans, and to keep the daily schedule running smoothly.

Better Resident and Family Engagement

Part of the senior living experience are the various events held throughout the year for residents and their families. Attendance to these events ranges from alright to abysmal, and this can have an impact on residents’ happiness. Using text messages, senior living facilities can better communicate with and engage residents’ families, increase attendance at events, and improve the overall satisfaction of residents and their families with the community. An increase in engagement leads to a better experience, and text messaging is a simple, trusted, and non-invasive means to do it.

Greater Satisfaction in Care

A major component of most senior living facilities is the care they provide through caregivers and other staff. Satisfaction in care, therefore, plays a central role in the success and failure of most facilities. Better communication leads to better outcomes. Increasing the number of communications options available to residents and their families decreases the likelihood of anyone falling through the proverbial cracks. Adding text messaging in your Senior Living facility mix stands to greatly reduce the chance that a communication from a resident or a family member is missed, and the immediacy of a text message can help make the communication feel more personalized.

When used as part of a host communications platform, text messaging stands to greatly improve a senior living facility’s operations, as well as improve satisfaction in care. With consumers increasingly preferring text messaging over email, and even phone calls, senior living facilities can only benefit from making text messaging a part of their operations.