Care home bosses should do more to get residents online to ensure they feel "fully included" in society, a think tank says.
The International Longevity Centre-UK says having access to the internet is important for the "intellectual and emotional" wellbeing of older people in homes.
The organisation made its comments after a poll by website carehome.co.uk found that only a fifth of care homes in the UK have internet access.
The website, which lists all care homes in the UK, found that only 2720 of 16,000 care homes have set up the internet for their residents to use.
Last week figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that only a third of elderly people have ever been online.
Whether for shopping, banking or catching up with news, just 33 per cent of over-75s have ever browsed the internet.
The figures show that 7.1 million adults in the UK have never been online - 45 per cent of whom are over the age of 75.
"This is an area that really needs to be addressed to ensure that care home residents are fully included in today's society," said Baroness Sally Greengross, chief executive of the International Longevity Centre-UK.
"These findings that only a fifth of care homes have internet access are very disappointing.
"Technology can stimulate creativity and trigger reminiscence. It is so important for the intellectual and emotional wellbeing of older people, enabling them to connect through friends and family by email, Facebook and Skype."
The director of carehome.co.uk, Davina Ludlow, wants to see more care homes giving residents access to the internet.
"The internet can be crucial in giving older people and people living with disabilities back their independence and stop them feeling so isolated. They can shop online, order books and DVDs, chat to family and friends using Skype, and can look at photos on Facebook," she said.
"Gadgets such as iPads can be used as memory-reminiscence tools. Music and archive photos from different eras can unlock memories and can easily be accessed just by touching the screen."
