This summer, every senior resident at Village Pointe Commons is getting Smarter.
At most assisted living residences, the assistance is targeted towards seniors’ health and mobility concerns. However, increasingly, assisted living spaces are helping their residents with learning new technologies.
One of the latest examples is a partnership between Capri Communities, a Wisconsin-based senior living provider, and Smarter, a personalized tech advisory service.
The two companies recently launched a program that includes on-site training classes. The partnership also includes on-demand tech support and events to help the community socialize and come together.
“At Smarter, we believe that technology should serve, not frustrate. Our personalized tech services are designed to meet the unique needs of older adults,” Vida Roozen, COO of Smarter, said in a statement. “Our mission is to enhance the lives of older adults through technology, and we are thrilled to partner with a forward-thinking community like Capri.”
Roozen described the program with Capri as “extremely successful”, noting that there’s been high demand for the in-person services. Surprisingly, tech support was needed for printers above all other devices, Roozen told McKnight’s.
“There’s been some really heartwarming stories to come out of our time,” Roozen said. “We were able to teach a resident who lost their spouse how to use his tablet to stay in touch with his grandkids, and another resident how to use Uber to get to a family wedding she would have otherwise missed. That personalization and care is what it’s all about for us.”
While the on-site component Smarter’s training is more extensive than other virtual-only offerings, other senior living communities also are offering, or looking to offer, similar programs as tech literacy becomes increasingly necessary for senior adults’ quality of life.
Last week, the provider Lifespace – which serves 6,000 residents across 17 states – announced a partnership with Candoo to access the latter’s virtual tech support platform.
By next year, all Medical Advantage Organizations will have to offer digital health education to all enrollees with low tech literacy.
Seniors themselves now bring an average of six devices, such as smartphones, with them to assisted living residences, Smarter claims.
Seattle recently gave over $100,000 in technology grants to address senior tech literacy in various locations, as part of a larger initiative to meet the technology needs of the city overall.
