High-Tech and Low-Tech Ways to Engage Socially Isolated Older Adults

Strategies for Engaging Older Adults in this Era of 'Social Distancing'

View Penn State Extension webinar recording (from April 15, 2020)

Video clips and websites

• Nursing homes offer visitations via robot during coronavirus outbreak (video)
• Free virtual tours of museums, zoos, etc.:
• VolunteerMatch
• Create the Good (AARP)
• Crisis Text Line - for providing support via text to young people in crisis
• CareerVillage.org - for giving career advice to children
• Connecting Generations in Senior Housing (toolkit, Generations United)
• Generations on Line - has free resources to help older adults learn how to use tablets, choose a device, connect to WiFi and more.
• Get Your Folks Online - "Mum, Dad… Meet the Internet" (Ireland)
• Old Time Radio Classics - Internet archive
• Sharing Smiles - Youth and older adults become pen pals, write joint stories, create poetry, and share artwork (ETA - Empowering the Ages).
• Share Your Lessons for Living Through a Crisis - The Legacy Project (Cornell University)
• Grandfamilies Share Stories of COVID-19 Hardships and Hope - Conversations recorded by StoryCorps (summer 2020). Participants are members of Generations United's GRAND Voices Network.

Key organizations, agencies, and resources

• Gen2Gen: For Older People Stuck at Home, 7 Ways to Stay Connected (article)
• Generations United: Articles and fact sheets
• Now is Not the Time to Sever the Ties that Bind Generations
• COVID-19 Fact Sheet for Grandfamilies and Multigenerational Families
• Updated list of GU resources related to COVID-19
• NCOA (National Council on Aging) websites
• COVID-19 resources for professionals in aging
• COVID-19 Resources for Older Adults & Caregivers
• Scams to Avoid (blog)
• engAGed (National Resource Center for Engaging Older Adults): 
  • Best Practices for Helping Older Adults Stay Socially Connected (11 best practice programs)
  • Innovations from the field
  • A Recording of the engAGED Virtual Summit on Social Isolation (9/24/2020) - Highlights on latest research and innovations to address social isolation and loneliness.
• Encore.org: A list of resources - Virtual volunteer opportunities, self-care tips and tools, and other resources for getting through the Coronavirus crisis.
• Aging Connected - a consortium to increase older adult access to internet connections (led by OATS - Older Adults Technology Services)
• National Alliance for Caregiving: COVID-19 Resources for Caregivers.
• Penn State Intergenerational Program (Penn State Extension): A collection of intergenerational activities, articles, and other resources for educators, human service professionals, community planners, and families.

Follow-up articles from Penn State

• Strategies for Engaging Older Adults - Penn State Extension
• Surviving Social Distancing - Penn State News