Participants receive access to expert assistance and opportunities for connecting with peers nationwide.
TheGibson Center for Senior Servicesis the lead agency coordinating the efforts of theMount Washington Valley Age Friendly Community.
The appeal heard most often?I need a computer.
The answer was yes, but with several modifications because of the COVID-19 exposure risks.
What we hadcontrolover, she continues, was helping people connect to the internet.
I like to think of what we’re doing as the bigwhy.
Why does it matter if people have broadband or not?
For instance, telehealth is huge in our cold, wintry, dark winter climate.
People no longer have to miss their doctor appointments because they can’t drive.
Many of their follow-up appointments can now occur on Zoom.
It’s more efficient.
Its just as effective.
Its to our seniors advantage.
It shouldnt go away.
Just pivot and offer the programs virtually,'" Jackson explains.
But that wasnt possible for the seniors who didnt have workable devices.
The Gibson Center asked the community to donate laptops and desktops.
That resulted in about 40 computers.
They told us, it’s possible for you to have the grant.
You have a track record with us.
We’re not going through the typical grant cycle process, which takes months.
You tell us what you want to do and we’re going to fund it.
And I mean thebasics, says Jackson.
How to access a web app.
How to get an email address.
How to set a password.
When we told them toclickon something, they didnt know what we meant by click.
It was new language for a lot of people.
Once the students got comfortable with the basics, the rest of the curriculum was clearly defined.
I meet my students where they are and we go from there, says Libby.
Something I frequently hear seniors say is, Im so stupid.
To show them they arenotstupid.
I show them a YouTube video called17-Year-Olds Dial a Rotary Phone.
The teens are utterly clueless about how to use the phone.
So when I’m watching this with a senior, I can say, These kids aren’t stupid.
They just didnt grow up with phones like that."
“It really breaks the ice for older students,” Libby continues.
“They finally accept that learning computer skills is not about intelligence.
Libby discovered another trick to make the process smoother.
Older people have been exposed to technology through their kids or their grandkids.
My biggest recommendation, when teaching beginners, is to break the process down into tiny steps.
That means you could’t say, Bring your mouse to the top of the screen.
You’ve got to break it down further: This is a mouse.
This is its purpose.
This is how it moves.
She also customized the computers for students if they encountered a stumbling block.
For instance, she has changed the double-click function to a single-click for opening items in Windows.
“Some seniors lack the dexterity to double-click,” says Libby.
A third part of the process required accessing the internet.
Outreach through the Mount Washington Valley age-friendly online grid pushed the program to a level higher.
The first emails about activities are sent to them and they in turn distribute the news to their members.
We can use the structure of the age-friendly community to enhance the effectiveness of the grant.
In fact, I’m sure that’s why we got the grant.
Reporting by Amy Lennard Goehner | Page published April 2022
