#connected_living

"95 year-old long lost friends reconnect through internet program for seniors" via CNN iReport

Billie Eaton and Beverly Aldridge met more than 60 years ago in Plainview, Texas, where they lived just a block away from each other and quickly became best friends.  In their time as neighbors, they traveled the world, visiting places such as China, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and Spain.  Unfortunately, they lost touch more than three decades ago when Beverly moved away.

In spring of 2011, Billie, a 95 year-old resident at an assisted living facility in Alabama, signed up for a program called Connected Living.  The program offers computer and Internet training for seniors on its safe and easy to use web-based network and empowers them to connect online with friends and family.

Using the email skills she learned through the program, Billie was able to reconnect with Beverly.  Because Beverly is deaf, email powerfully enhanced her ability to communicate with others.  The two friends share frequent correspondence and enjoy reminiscing about their days of travel.  They hope to reunite and are currently using their new online abilities to book a Mississippi River cruise.

ST. BOTOLPH (Boston Housing Authority) Graduation Ceremony Closing Speech

by Anna Hall of Connected Living

CONNECTION – to the world, information, each other.  It is now your responsibility to bring other residents in the building to this program - do not let your peers get left behind.  Let’s leave no one behind.

KNOWLEDGE -  of each other, new skills, information at fingertips – KNOWLEDGE IS ONE THING IN THIS WORLD THAT NO ONE CAN TAKE AWAY FROM YOU!

POWER – use your newfound skills and access and connections to make your voices heard and take part in society to get what you need.

COURAGE – to overcome perceived barriers, to try something new, to take a risk.  One must take risks in life to grow, and we are looking at a room full of success stories right now.

PERSEVERANCE – This wasn’t easy.  It took dedication and hard work.  You had to make a commitment of time and energy to complete the program.

PERCEPTION - You are actively breaking down the perception that people in this building, in this community, in affordable housing, aren’t interested in getting connected.

ACTION/CHANGE - You have taken action by participating and beginning this journey.  Your action can lead to positive change and access for people around the nation.  You ARE the change we all want to see in the world.  Thank you to all of the graduates for transforming our concept into a reality. 

The Connected Living Network improves user and administrator functionality

QUINCY, Mass., Aug. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Connected Living, the leader in bridging seniors and technology, today announced the launch of its new and improved platform, the Connected Living Network (CLN). The CLN will vastly improve user experience as well as administrative data collection, offering a more complete and beneficial product to customers.

To avoid confusion amongst current users who are familiar with the program, users will only see small modifications such as: an increase in speed; a few cosmetic changes and updates to the Library content; and photo slideshow functions on the CLN.  Most of the changes happening for the CLN involve back end data collection and administrator functions.

"The Connected Living Network is valuable not only to the residents, but to the communities themselves, helping them stand out in the competitive senior living environment and connect with their residents," said Sarah Hoit, CEO and co-founder of Connected Living. "Senior communities need to be wired these days, and our product offers a complete solution."

The most important update to the CLN is the improved administrator panel. The administrator panel has been redesigned to a single interface for network management supporting content management, self-service report generation, profile builder configuration, survey configuration, calendar management, and access to the messaging tool.  The panel will be able to automatically upload resident lists when new communities adopt Connected Living, which will save them from having to manually enter residents.  The new reporting module allows the user to run various reports with specified criteria such as time range and communities. Connected Living Administrators can also create resident surveys and upload newsletters and calendars from the new panel.  

"We are very excited to have the new platform finally launch," said Ann-Marie Bland, senior vice president of marketing and product development. "Our team has been working hard on these improvements over the past several months, which will enhance the experience of all our members, and allow for the addition of great new features."

Connected Living has been implemented by some of the most recognized names in eldercare, including Brookdale, Benchmark, Emeritus, and Beacon Communities providing this unique approach to technology adoption in more than 150 senior communities across the country. After receiving two Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grants, Connected Living launched in more than 30 affordable elderly and disabled housing properties throughout Boston, Chicago, and Atlanta.

In each community, Connected Living provides residents with a simple web interface, along with personalized and group training from an "Ambassador" who helps to keep residents engaged and interested in getting online.  Using Connected Living, residents can create a personal profile, send e-mail, video-chat, share photos, and record old memories and life stories.  In addition to providing access to the CLN and installing assistive technologies like touch screen computers, large letter keyboards, and text-to-speech tools, Connected Living also enables users to engage online with their friends and families. This contact results in increased socialization, and a decreased sense of depression and isolation that sometimes occur in senior living communities.  Connected Living empowers seniors to become more independent and to better their lives through the use of modern technology.

About Connected Living

Aug 03, 2011 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) -- Connected Living and the Boston Housing Authority announced that after 12 weeks of intensive courses, 92 residents from three BHA properties successfully completed the Connected Living computer training program.

According to a release, the 12-week program included computer classes that supported residents at a variety of competency levels. Each class was taught by a Connected Living Community Program Manager, also known as an Ambassador. Once residents completed the 12-week program and passed a broadband assessment, they received a certificate of broadband independence, which serves as a voucher for a new computer. Based on housing and income requirements, each participant may be eligible to receive Comcast Internet connection in their apartment for up to 12 months. "We have a commitment to keeping our elderly residents connected to the online world," said Mayor Thomas Menino. "This program allows a new generation to experience all the benefits of technology." As a sub-recipient of the City of Boston's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program grant for sustainable broadband adoption, Connected Living launched the computer training program in three BHA elderly and disabled public housing developments in April 2011. The grant, which is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, works to increase broadband internet adoption in Boston's low-income areas. Connected Living launched in these BHA properties to help seniors and people with disabilities connect online through an easy-to-use web-based portal combined with personal training and support from an Ambassador.

Author: Billerica Crossings Ambassador

Date: July 14, 2011

Last Thursday, most of the residents who usually come to the computers went on a field trip to the Butterfly Place in Westford, MA. I took pictures of them on the bus before they left and the AD took photos during the trip.

I also found several virtual tours and YouTube clips of the Butterfly Place and one resident who could not go on the trip came to the lab and watched the videos with me.

This week we completed the photo album and posted a group story about the trip. Six residents came to the lab and each shared their favorite part of the trip. I took down their comments and we posted it on one of the resident’s pages. We captioned the photos and viewed the album several times.