Tech to Connect aims to counter senior isolation via tablets, virtual visits

Susan Mackey, certified thanatologist, has spent her professional life working with the elderly, both to make their lives more comfortable and to help them approach life’s end with dignity and serenity.  An experience with her 90-year-old mother was the motivation for a new program Mackey named “Tech to Connect: Creating Heartfelt Interaction for Those in Need of Connection.”  Mackey’s mother lives in a senior living community in Illinois and was, like many other seniors, experiencing the loneliness of coronavirus pandemic-related restrictions

Mackey remembered her mother had an old iPad she had not used in a couple of years and asked her caregiver to get it out. She got it set up so they could Facetime together.  Mackey found it made a huge difference to her, and to her mother, to be able to see each other when they talked. On one occasion, Mackey’s mother commented it was just like her daughter was there in her living room, visiting. 

Susan Mackey, creator of “Tech to Connect: Creating Heartfelt Interaction for Those in Need of Connection.

Mackey is part of a group of end-of-life doulas called the Rocky Mountain End-of-Life Collective who know isolation and loneliness are huge issues for seniors even without COVID.  The group was interested in a project of some sort when COVID first started to impact lives. After her experience with her mother, Mackey figured others could benefit from using technology to access a higher level of intimacy when connecting with family and friends. She mentioned the idea of repurposing older iPads to her group and they came up with the name, Tech to Connect. 

Mackey said she believes plenty of other people likely upgraded their iPads and stashed the old ones in a closet, thinking they weren’t good for anything.  The next step was to put out appeals to the group’s personal networks and on Next Door, and then the iPads began to appear. The community has been generous, and more than 80 iPads and other devices have been donated so far.

Mackey’s friend, David Clark, who co-hosts the Lafayette Death Cafe with her, has taken on the task of cleaning up each device.  He then installs Facetime and Zoom, CNN and Solitaire on each one, and disinfects and bags them. Mackey also received help with placement of the iPads from Lucy Kuchta, who is creating a company named Quinsight, which aims to bring easy-to-use technology to older adults. She had spent hours networking with various senior communities, the Boulder County Area Agency on Aging and the Boulder Housing Authority so she was familiar with senior resources in Longmont and Boulder County. 

The first batch of iPads were delivered to Golden West Senior Living in Boulder a couple of months ago.  Those devices have been used to not only connect seniors with family and friends who can no longer visit them, but also to pilot an online version of Circle Talk, the program that brings people, mainly seniors, together to alleviate loneliness. Other devices are being distributed by the Area Agency on Aging  and they will be delivered elsewhere in Boulder County, including in Longmont. 

Mackey has found there are challenges tied to tech. Internet is needed to use a device, and that is not economically feasible for many seniors on fixed incomes. It is easier to place the devices in buildings where internet is available rather than in private homes, and Tech to Connect members are researching low-cost solutions to provide access to more seniors. 

COVID  restrictions also mean Tech to Connect members cannot teach classes or go to people’s homes. While staff at senior living facilities can help residents learn how to access Zoom and other apps, those in private homes do not have that luxury. So only those who are already comfortable with the technology are chosen to be recipients at this time.