The ageing of the national population along with the rapid diffusion of technological innovations necessitate it to turn our attention to the significance of considering the adoption of technology by the Indian elderly. The impact of social distancing and the role of technology on the everyday lives of the older people during the pandemic remain under-researched. The public health crisis created by COVID-19 has deepened the roots of digital divide by digitally marginalizing older people especially in the developing nations who often lack awareness, access and training to use technology. This study captures the success stories, ordeals or challenges faced by the older people in coping with social distancing measures through the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Results of the qualitative in-depth interviews conducted on 30 professionals aged at least 60 years, residing in a metropolitan city in eastern India show that as the participants feel isolated, they reconfigure their traditional norms of face-to-face social interaction and rely upon their touchscreens and keyboards to continue everyday interaction, to work from home, access information and avail ‘essential services’. Apart from focusing on their impetus to adopt ICT, the study highlights the blocks in active usage of ICT namely attitudinal barriers, prior negative experience, concerns over cyber security, complicated technical instructions and lack of supportive learning environment. In order to create a technologically inclusive society for the older people, it is essential to cater to their unique needs and design elderly friendly technologies.

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The world encountered an emergent issue of great concern, regarding the new pandemic virus termed as ‘Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)’. This pandemic situation has disconcerted the socio-economic and psychological situations of people and their livelihoods, thus, disturbing societal equilibrium. Social distancing is considered to be an influential weapon to restrict this virus transmission. Like many others, especifically, the elderly people, face pressing difficulties in their daily life-world. Thus, a qualitative study is being considered among the Indian peri-urban elderly (N ​= ​15, >60 years) to identify the experiences of social distancing on their lives and their situation in an everyday living context. The dominant themes are being identified in this study reveal that social relationships are in ‘paradox’ as it binds the proximate familial relations and distantiate the relations with their significant others that is the bonding between their friends and neighbours along with the coping strategies that have been recorded to overcome their immense psychological stress. Moreover, their preparedness to get back to the normal routines of their daily lives in post-COVID-19 is certainly a matter of concern to them. Thus, the study proposes to develop plans and policies towards awareness, counseling, and volunteering services based on local or remote area approach to make coping strategies for them more viable to combat this unforeseen crisis.

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Dans l’ordre mondial actuel, l’augmentation de la population âgée a des répercussions importantes sur les structures sociodémographiques. Elle s’accompagne d’un déclin du rôle traditionnel de l’aidant et par conséquent de l’avènement de systèmes de soins alternatifs pour les soins de fin de vie (SFV). Cependant, les constructions socioculturelles sous-jacentes des SFV varient selon les pays, avec des différences marquées entre les pays occidentaux et non occidentaux, par exemple l’Inde. Peu de recherches ont porté sur les SFV en général ou en Inde plus particulièrement. Ainsi, cette étude a pour objet les perceptions de bien-être et des préparatifs de fin de vie réussis de 390 personnes âgées (> 60 ans) résidant dans le district périurbain du Bengale occidental, en Inde. Les enquêtes empiriques révèlent trois grands aspects thématiques du bien-être liés aux soins de fin de vie : a) les perceptions du vieillissement ; b) les perceptions du bien-être dans un contexte social en mutation ; et c) les perceptions de la fin de vie. Les résultats de cette étude indiquent que les perceptions du bien-être des personnes âgées vis-à-vis de leurs soins de fin de vie sont principalement influencées par l’existence de liens sociaux forts et le maintien à domicile. Les résultats de cette étude devraient aider à guider l’élaboration de politiques efficaces en Inde, qui pourraient être appliquées à d’autres pays en développement.