WHILE some people can't put the phone down, the World Wide Web can be a daunting place for others.
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That's where Digital IQ steps in.
When the pandemic hit and hundreds of locals were told to stay home - the Internet became one of the few windows to the outside world, leaving the elderly and those without access isolated.
A pilot project called Health My Way run in Tamworth by Digital IQ, saw one-on-one support offered to digital immigrants to connect with online government services, community advisor Derek Tink said.
"It's isolating, we call it digital exclusion," he said.
"It really highlighted to me that there's a need to help people connect with technologies to access health information like apps.
"Some people were concerned they wouldn't do things right, others were worried about safe and secure data and some just didn't have the ability."
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Health My Way was offered to all age groups but the majority of participants were seniors.
More than 1500 people took part in the project, which enabled them to connect to government services like MyGov My Health Record.
Mr Tink said there's around 14,000 people in the region who are older than 65 and aren't using technology.
"People weren't connecting with My Health Record because in some cases people din't even know how to turn on a smart phone, or a computer," he said.
"They didn't know the basics to access information, that's a real barrier when it connects back to health and wellness."
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