The clinic for all your mobile problems

Seniors are flocking to Digital Clinics to learn how to use their mobile phones.

The initiative by the Singapore Infocomm and Media Development Authority (IMDA) aims to bring IT help to people above the age of 60 in the heartlands.

First piloted in June last year, Digital Clinics are one-off session where seniors sit down with a volunteer and learn how to use various functions and applications on their mobile phone. Sign ups are strictly on a walk-in basis. After filling up their details in a form, the participant will be allocated a volunteer based on their spoken language and whether they are using an Apple or Android phone. If there are other participants before them, they will be ushered to a waiting area instead until their queue number is called.

Depending on venue, each digital clinic sees an average of 50 participants. According to Assistant Manager for Digital Inclusion, Mr Damien Lien, the Digital Clinics have received “mostly positive” feedback because participants "enjoy platforms where they can seek help".

This was echoed by Mdm Mary Tan who attended the session at Changi Simei Community Club (CC). She found out about the Digital Clinic through posters outside the lift at her block and said that this one-off session at the Digital Clinic helped her pour out all her mobile woes to the volunteer. She also described it as “very simplified” and the volunteers “will repeat” whenever she cannot catch on immediately.

Another participant from the Changi Simei CC Digital Clinic, Mrs Lim Sheng Nan, praised the volunteers for their patience. She had never attended anything like this before as the usual courses offered at CCs span weeks and even months. She expressed her interest in attending the upcoming session at Tampines Regional Library and would recommend the Digital Clinics to her friends.

The seniors do not approach their family members for help as their children often do not have the patience to teach them or have already moved out of the house. Thus they turn to such community initiatives.

The volunteers are from various companies in Changi Business Park (CBP), who were roped in by IBM for a corporate social responsibility activity. Volunteer Mr Akhil Gupta said that the most common questions are about applications such as Parking@SG and GrabTaxi. Another big problem the seniors face is the constantly changing look of the operating systems. Every time they have to update their phones, they struggle to relearn how the new interface works. However, they do not give up and come back with enthusiasm to learn. He says he will definitely volunteer again for future Digital Clinics.

IMDA has scheduled to run Digital Clinics till the end of the year, and the upcoming sessions in February will be held at Marine Parade Library, Changi Simei CC and Tampines Regional Library.