Surinder's digital skills session

"As a general practitioner I was so ready to retire from seeing patients that I’ve not really looked back. But the desire to help, to aid and to support was something I wanted to continue – though I didn’t expect it to be as a Digital Champion (DC).  Previously in the practice, it was me who always needed to catch up around things digital. Well, rather ironically here I am as a DC and so far, it’s been really fascinating, sometimes challenging and always fun...

Surinder volunteers at a LiveSmart residential unit for older people in London. He started with a couple of people who wanted help with their phones, and is now running a regular drop-in sessions for a group. He shared a few of the things he's learnt along the way...

Find the right hook

Taking a page out of the training I completed, I started each weekly session with a brief chat about hobbies and interests - knowing that ‘a hook’ can often be the secret to unlocking real engagement by the learners.  Indeed this proved to be the case – especially when recently, one of the newer residents admitted that cinema is a hobby. Thus, using the internet to find information about cinema revealed so much that it required more time to learn how to focus on more a narrower set of topics.

Take Small Steps

We got around to talking about online shopping and banking.  While some had delved into banking – as a group they were reluctant, anxious and dare I say it not too confident about their skills.

It seems to me that confidence comes from practice and practising skills in more neutral areas such as general browsing, interacting with websites and with social media will pay dividends later. I believe in the old adage Rome wasn’t built in a day.

This is what I call fun work – aiding, supporting, teaching. As a bonus – it is really appreciated by the residents.

Surinder Singh
Digital Champion