Nunavik looks at computer technology to help elders

KUUJJUAQ — Someday soon, Nunavik elders may communicate with friends and family on Facetime, the iPad application that lets iPad users connect visually with other iPad users, or on Skype, another popular internet video and voice phone program.

That’s one of the plans of Nunavik’s elders’ committee, which has applied to money from the “Quebec is Senior Friendly” program to introduce projects that use modern technology to facilitate communication.

This would help break the isolation of elders by connecting them with other family members without the trouble and expense of travel, Bobby Snowball, the chairperson of the committee, told councillors Feb. 25 at the Kativik Regional Government council meeting in Kuujjuaq.

If approved, the project would see each community get a “communication unit” equipped with computers that would provide service to elders at no cost.

People would provide assistance to elders on a volunteer basis, with Nunavik’s Avataq Cultural Institute co-ordinating the project.

The KRG recently signed a five-year funding agreement with Quebec that contributes $313,000 towards the operation of the elders’ committee.

Among the committee’s other projects: a plan to provide assistance to caregivers in Nunavik, which could give the organization $30,000 a year for 10 years.