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Could a gaming PC be a good thing in a nursing home? (lemmy.world)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Recently talked to a 90+ year old man in a park in front of his nursing home, guy is a former RC plane enthusiast. Can't do anything now because of his age, though. Bored all the time, sitting in the park is his highlight.

Thinking of donating an old gaming PC that can somewhat run the Microsoft flight simulator. Would that be a good idea? Can the average 80-90 year old use that at all, just speaking sensorically and motor skill wise?

Are there any other thoughts you have on that idea?

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[–] [email protected] 37 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (5 children)

Maybe not yet, but soon. I'm a member of the first gaming generation. I started with C64 and various 'standolone one game hand consoles' that Nintendo built back then before NES.

One thing you have to understand is that in the 80's males older than me thought gaming was for children only. Only childish nerds were interested about such things. "Cool" kids feared they'd get socially ostracized if caught using a computer, let alone playing video games.

This attitude is still quite strong in 50+ and fact that we revert back as we get old makes it worse. From their perspective it's same as giving then shitload of legos/dublos to build stuff and they will resent you for insulting their dignity.

I think in 20 years PCs and consoles will be basic hardware for nursing homes.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

While this is stereotypically true, my grandparents that passed away 14 years ago were avid gamers. They adored their NES and bought a SNES when the NES died. I think it is worth inquiring with local nursing homes to see if they have anyone that has gaming experience. My grandma’s favorite game was Loopz. Grandpa’s was golf. Puzzle games especially are good for that age group as they keep the brain busy but don’t necessarily require adept fine motor speed like other genres.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

There are always exceptions. I've got few geezers as steam friends, but I've met much more 50+ colleagues who laugh at me for telling I'm a gamer.

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