I like to watch Periscope and while I enjoy it for its educational and entertainment value, I believe it has an important place in the lives of our elderly and injured.

Periscope is an app for watching others and gives  individuals and groups the ability to show things from their perspectives.  When you open the Periscope app on your smart phone or device, a map of the world comes up.  Little red dots show up all over the world indicating the number of live streaming events at that point in time.  You can zoom in and the dots break apart providing a more detailed view of where the people are that are presently providing a little view of their world. When you click on a live streaming event, you can see them but they can’t see you.  You can interact with them by typing messages on your device if you wish to participate.

I love checking out things from all over.  During the Paris attacks, I watched individuals live stream from their advantage point of the events as they occurred.  One night Rhonda Rousey, a female fighter was in a big match-up and I was amazed at the number of people from many nations who were showing viewing parties of the fight.  On one occasion I went along with a man  as he showed the fall foliage on the grounds of  a famous (and very crowed) Japanese Temple. The foliage was at its peak and it was a very special time for those that were there.

On Periscope if you find someone or some group to be particularly  interesting, you can “follow” them and then you get alerts when they are on. I am following the Park Rangers at Yellowstone and they are often coming on and showing things that interest them. One morning the steam from the hot springs was freezing on the trees and the sun was shining through. One day  an otter was playing on the river and the ranger talked about the otters and their part in the park.  One day they showed the Bison moving along a park road.  You could hear their snorting and watch their breaths in the cold air as if you were right there. I recently started following a farmer in Pennsylvania (The Wallace’s). He props the camera up in the barn, you can hear his radio playing in the background and watch him feeding his calves buckets of warm milk. He talks to the calves and answers people’s questions. It is nice stress reliever.

Most of the seniors I work with in therapy aren’t comfortable with technology and can’t take advantage of these opportunities for reaching out to the world from the comfort of their homes.  But I have noticed in the last few years that more and more patients have email addresses and more have the ability to text so I know we are getting there.  I know that when I am a “legitimate senior” I will not be able to go without my electronics and all that comes with it. And from all the people I see in our communities with head bent down over a small screen, I know that I am not alone.

I am excited for how technology will provide for stimulation and motivation from the outside world.  I can imagine that if a person can’t physically get to a family reunion, one of the family can Periscope (or FaceTime or Skype)  the reunion, interviewing different family members all with the help of a smart phone.  Many churches have made services available for those that can’t make it there through Periscope.

When I was working with worker’s comp patients in an outpatient setting, it was well known that a worker that remained separate from the work place for too long would not likely return to the job.  A person loses the interaction with co-workers.  They lose confidence for the job and they lose the routine of going to work.  I believe that anyone can start to lose confidence and then motivation for “going” places.  It is my belief that Periscope has the ability to motivate for renewed participation and with the help of therapy improve the likelihood of return to community mobility.