DIGITAL EQUITY RESOURCES
Digital Equity and Older Adults – Resources for Communities and Stakeholders
The pandemic has shined a light on the importance of technology in our daily lives. Access to technology, including internet use, is a social determinant of health – helping us connect with others, engage in our communities, work remotely, and receive vital information and services.
To support our statewide, cross-sector network of stakeholders working to improve digital equity among older adults, MHAC partners with the Executive Office of Elder Affairs to jointly host the Technology Learning Collaborative for Healthy Aging. This quarterly convening is a chance to highlight best practices and hear about opportunities for funding, partnerships and strengthening digital equity across communities. Contact MHAC Executive Director James Fuccione to attend these meetings.
If you are an older adult, family member, or caregiver looking for more information about technology programming in your community, please contact MassOptions to speak to your local Aging Services Access Point, call your local Council on Aging (senior center), or reach out to other community organizations, such as your local library.
COMMUNITY RESOURCE GUIDE: TECHNOLOGY ACCESS AND PROGRAMMING FOR OLDER ADULTS
This community resource guide, published in September 2021, was developed to provide communities and community-based organizations with ideas of how to start or strengthen technology programs for older adults.
Statewide and Local Digital Equity Planning – Mass Broadband Institute:
- Massachusetts Internet for All: Survey and listening sessions to inform statewide digital equity plan.
- Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program
- Apartment Wi-Fi Program – statewide program managed by Metropolitan Area Planning Council
Research, Reports, and Advocacy:
- Babson College FutureLab, Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative and Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs: Webinar on Understanding Technology as a Social Determinant of Health
- Alliance for Digital Equity: The Digital Divide and Challenges to Digital Equity in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin Counties, Massachusetts
- Humana Foundation and Older Adults Technology Services (OATS): Aging Connected: Closing the Connectivity Gap for Older Americans
- MassINC) Report: Connecting Communities Through Digital Equity: An Action Plan for State, Community, and Private and Institutional Partners, 2022
- Office of the Attorney General: Building Toward Racial Justice and Equity In Health: A Call To Action
- WGBH Feature on Tech Goes Home: Tackling Health Inequity Means Addressing Digital Inequity, Too
- Massachusetts eHealth Institute: Caregivers and Digital Health Report
Cross-Cutting Websites: Programming, Broadband/ Internet, Devices, Training
- AARP Virtual Community Center
- OutStanding Life: A virtual community of LGBTQ+ Older Adults
- Massachusetts Councils on Aging: Virtual Senior Center Resources
Resource Guide Case Studies:
- Case Study #1: Northampton Senior Services Tech Loan and Training Program
- Case Study #2 (Intergenerational): Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly (LBFE)-Boston CitySites and Digital Dividends Program
- Case Study #3: Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services (SCES) Tech Support Coach Volunteer Program
- Case Study #4: The Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (MABVI) Access Technology Training Program
- Case Study #5: AgeSpan