"You name it, I’ll google it," says Mrs Johnson

Mrs Joan Johnson of Resthaven Marion certainly doesn’t fit the stereotype of your average 96 year old.

With her baby blue iPad and colourful room decorations (including a woven wall hanging purchased in Egypt) Mrs Johnson loves using technology to continue exploring the world around her.

"I have a very enquiring mind," she says. "I google an awful lot."

"The other day, I was sitting here watching the birds in the garden, and I thought, 'Why do magpies warble? I wonder if there’s a dreamtime story about that.' I’m very interested in dreamtime stories."

"I googled it, and sure enough, there it was."

Mrs Johnson is fascinated by the dreamtime, saying, "I think there’s something in everything, isn’t there?"

"Take the [traditionally named*] areas at Resthaven Marion – someone put a lot of thought into those."

"I looked them up on my iPad, and they really do suit the areas."

Mrs Johnson has always had an interest in technology, saying, "I’ve been on computers since the early 90s – I had everything that opened and closed."

"You name it, I’ll look it up."

Unsurprisingly, Mrs Johnson is a regular at the Resthaven Marion/Westminster School computer club, a collaborative group run for more than ten years, where Westminster students teach residents how to use a computer (and sometimes vice versa).

"The students are very good," says Mrs Johnson. "They help with the little things that I can’t quite work out."

"One lot came and took some things off my iPad and typed them up for me, and helped me to add and remove some apps."

Besides google, Mrs Johnson’s favourite feature of her iPad is the dictation feature. "I’m sight impaired, so I use it to write letters and poetry when I can’t see well," she says.

"I also use my iPad to keep in touch with my friends, for emails, and for photographs."

"I went to a Fringe show in the city recently, and took photos of the brightly lit buildings in the city," she says. "I sent them to my daughter in Darwin, to show her that little old Adelaide isn’t so little anymore!"

Mrs Johnson is well-travelled, and has copies of many travel photos stored in her iPad. "I love being able to see all my photos on it – I can look at my photos from South America, Egypt, all those places," she says.

"It certainly keeps your mind going. 'I wish I knew' is not a sentence I ever use, quite frankly!"

Resthaven Marion is just one of Resthaven’s eleven fully accredited residential aged care homes located across metropolitan Adelaide, the hills, Murraylands, Fleurieu, and Mount Gambier, with a twelfth home opening at Aberfoyle Park in July 2018. In home support and therapy and wellness services are provided through Resthaven Community Services. 

*The various areas of Resthaven Marion are named with traditional indigenous names. They are Mirambeena (welcome), Aroona (flowing water), Tanderra (resting place) Koolkuna (place of safety), Carinya (happy home), Kiah (beautiful place) and Warrawee (come rest a while). 

Find out more about Resthaven.