Seniors’ Advocates Start Initiative to Increase Broadband Use

Helping senior citizens recognize the Internet’s relevance to daily life is key in encouraging them to adopt broadband, representatives from groups for aging adults said Tuesday during a news conference. Consumer Action, Older Adults Technology Services and others formed Project Goal to promote broadband adoption to older adults. While 65 percent of Americans have adopted broadband, only about 35 percent of those over 65 have, said Blair Levin, executive director of the FCC Omnibus Broadband Initiative. The National Broadband Plan recommendations targeting under-adopted communities, including seniors, are just part of the effort, he said. “If the federal government tries to tackle barriers to adoption alone it will fail,” and it must “draw upon the power of community groups, private companies and government."

Project Goal -- Getting Older Adults Online -- sponsors include AT&T, Facebook and the NCTA. Members plan to work with other aging-adult organizations to address the challenges of broadband adoption and deliver that information to their constituencies, said Debra Berlyn, Project Goal executive director. She plans to convene forums and get information to the target organizations and those “that don’t have the time themselves to push this to the top of the agenda.”

The initiative will address the barriers that keep senior citizens from becoming Web savvy, Berlyn said. “Many just don’t see the value of the Internet.” They have a lack of comfort with computers and “are worried that bad things can happen on the Internet,” she said: “Offering tools and information regarding online safety, security and privacy” is an important part of the effort.

The benefits of broadband adoption for aging citizens are “multi-fold,” said Sandy Markwood, executive director of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging. Engaging with friends, family and the community provide a social benefit, she said. Health and safety benefits include “in-home online assessments or monitoring of frail older adults,” she said.

"Applications for telemedicine are growing,” said American Telemedicine Association Executive Director Jonathan Linkous. For cellphones, there are about 6,000 applications dealing with healthcare and fitness, up from 5,000 earlier this year, he said: “Having the services out there is one thing, but getting them used is the other,” and “older adults will use technology, but you've got to prove it to them and you've got to make sure that the services are there.”