Partners for Health Foundation is pleased to announce that Montclair Gateway to Aging in Place (mGAP) has been awarded a $14,600 grant. This funding will enhance the recently received AARP Community Challenge grant, together supporting mGAP’s digital navigation program. This initiative directly benefits our community’s modern agers (age 50+), improving their access to digital communication, assistive technology, and emergency alerts.
“Having lived before technology transformed our banking/healthcare/government/ shopping enterprises from interpersonal to digital, we empathize with peers who are skeptical about sharing their personnel information digitally,” says Ann Lippel, mGAP president. “This is our opportunity to teach modern agers how to be in control of their devices rather than controlled by them, especially as it relates to emergency communication.”
Staying Connected When it Matters Most
In cooperation with the Township of Montclair, this mGAP test project will help modern agers take control of emergency messaging on digital devices. Funds from Partners for Health will be used to purchase loaner devices for trainees, and produce a video on the “ABCs of Digital Messaging During Emergencies.”
Test group participants will be able to use loaner Smartwatches during this fall trial phase. Montclair Gateway will gather feedback on clarity and usability of the text messages they receive. Ultimately the organization’s digital navigators will work with participants to personalize their own Smartphones and Smartwatches to easily send and receive emergency messages.
Volunteer to Be A Digital Navigator
If you are relatively comfortable with digital technology and want to help others in our community take control of digital emergency messaging, please fill out this intake form. You do not have to be an expert, just someone who knows the basics and is willing to learn. The navigator group will meet weekly throughout the fall. As our current team of digital navigators can testify, it is truly rewarding to help and learn through the experience of peer-to-peer connection.
For more information and/or to volunteer, see www.MontclairGateway.org or contact or call 973-518-3867.