Verizon’s Digital Inclusion Initiative: Transforming Lives with 1:1 Tech Support for Older Adults

The challenge

These days, everything from banking to healthcare and finding a job happens online. For older adults, digital skills training helps to increase economic security and end social isolation. When older adults are supported in learning even basic digital skills, they are better equipped to maintain health and wellness, find jobs, explore entrepreneurship, and engage in creative pursuits. Older adults can benefit greatly from one-on-one technology support. Verizon actively sought volunteer opportunities for their employees to provide digital skills training to older adults, a critical component of the company’s efforts to further digital inclusion.

The strategy

Launch a virtual program offering volunteer engagement opportunities for Verizon employees to provide 1:1 technology assistance to older adults, as well as weekly group training sessions. Develop a short training deck for Verizon employees to help them understand the context of the digital divide as it relates to older adults and presented best practices and useful tips for working with seniors and technology. To introduce the training materials to volunteers, arrange two-hour virtual training sessions for up to 25 Verizon volunteers, where they learned how to train older adults about specific technology topics.

The solution

OATS scheduled weekly volunteer engagement activities for Verizon employees to provide 1-2 hours of tech help for seniors, assisting an average of eight older adult participants per session. Verizon volunteers also provided 1:1 training on a weekly basis, mostly held over the phone in partnership with the Senior Planet hotline, assisting older adults with popular technology questions like downloading apps to a new smartphone, sending emails with photo attachments, and more. Verizon volunteers who were interested in participating in the volunteer opportunity signed up 24 hours in advance, and then Senior Planet staff fit-matched them with older adult participants who had expressed interest in personalized virtual instruction. The successful, community-facing initiative highlighted Verizon’s role as a champion of digital inclusion efforts, and helped older adults understand and use technology to improve their lives.