Community Service: Macs for the Elderly

by Tom Piper (reprinted from July 2007 appleJAC Digest)

My son Jason was recently given five early-edition iMacs which he passed on to me in hopes that they could find a new productive home. This re-ignited an idea that I’ve been cultivating for several years about placing pre-owned Macs into retirement centers. It is my belief that if computers are readily available with Internet access, and if residents are properly trained, then this could become a new avenue of communication with families and friends, and a way to explore the world without the expense of travel.

Like many ideas, this one is 5% inspiration, and 95% perspiration. You see, none of these donated computers have keyboards or mice, let alone enough memory to support a robust Internet connection. We’ve discussed this at our last appleJAC MUG Board Meeting, and everyone agreed that this is conceptually a good idea that needs more cultivation. Indeed, to make the idea work right, our pre-owned computers should at least have FireWire ports and slot CD drives (and hopefully keyboards and mice too).

Thus, we are now looking for donations of older computers that can be placed in retirement centers and nursing homes. We are also looking for volunteers who can help us restore donated equipment to useful working order, and patient resourceful people who can also be trainers.

If you fit any of these opportunities, please contact me (macquest@mac.com), or other appleJAC Board members (see list at front of Digest) and register your interest. This is a gift that could keep on giving as we help people enjoy their retirement years more.

SeniorNet: Internet for Long-Term Care Residents

by Tom Piper (an undated description of progress)

We’ve come a long way since that initial July 2007 community service request. One of the old G3 iMacs was cannibalized for parts, and appleJAC paid to double the memory to 256MB on the other four so they could run Mac OS X. Keyboards and mice were donated by Bruce and Joe to complete the setup. George Kopp and Jason worked with me to develop a reliable, responsive and simple version of Mac OS 10.3.9 which I then installed on each iMac. Since then, George helped me to acquire four more G3 iMacs that had been surplused by the Mokane school district (thank you, Jeff Nelson). These only required software updates since the hardware was already adequate.

The first installation of two computers was established at Adams Street Place skilled nursing home where I worked with the owner/administrator, Earl Carlson, and his staff. A lockable room was selected with a desk for both computers together, and an Ethernet line was strung from their main router. I started training staff and residents (see below) in June 2008, and have continued since then with help at a couple of sessions from Greg Breuer. Jennifer Keys, their activity director has helped coordinate access, and one of the residents is learning to be a trainer. Unfortunately, one of the iMacs has failed, so it was replaced from our reserve stock.

Heisinger I had also started negotiations with Sherry King, the administrator at Heisinger Bluffs continuing care retirement community (see above) in July 2008 where they needed to extend Ethernet lines into two different areas. This took six months; meanwhile, residents of their independent living unit requested our assistance with their existing computers. Mark Snell and I met with them and encouraged the formation of their own computer club. This has since happened, and a second visit was conducted in late January when Jason and I (on behalf of aJMUG) assisted 8 people with computer problems, with problems ranging from setting up a new HP laptop, to installing additional memory in an HP tower, to advising on new Internet service, to fixing Outlook Express, to updating a mirror-face Mac G4, and other moderate (but not serious) concerns.

It was a successful day at Heisinger Bluffs when I also installed two G3 Macs (one in nursing home section, and one in assisted living section) and both are fully operational (unfortunately, another iMac failed, and was replaced from our reserves). They even bought new small desks to put the computers on. We also got a new member in John Knapp (a Heisinger resident who is writing a book, teaching computer and other neat stuff) who might need a ride to our meetings. We have been working with Nina Meeks as our coordinator for all computer activities here, and will work with her for training.

After working at this for over 18 months, I believe we have made some very significant progress, and are starting to achieve the goal of Internet and email services for our seniors in long-term care facilities. Volunteers are still needed to assist with the training process, but paper instructions have already been compiled to assist in the effort. We will also be seeking another retirement center to place one or two more computers, in case you know of a location where we can be of service. This is not an easy effort, but it has been very rewarding, so I hope you too will get involved.

Comments

[Ryan Martell]

I recently setup my grandmother with an iMac, and was compiling some simple instructions for her on how to use email, how to print from iphoto. The more I worked on it, the more I realized I was lacking.

I'm sure you've done a better job than I have- are your paper instructions available anywhere online? It would be great if I could give them to her.

Thanks!
-Ryan Martell