How improving residents’ digital literacy can enhance government service delivery
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A nonprofit is offering digital skills training to senior centers across the nation. One Dallas official says the initiative can better residents’ individual experiences and how agencies serve them.
As the older adult population in the U.S. continues to swell, governments should consider how to support aging Americans’ experiences in an increasingly digital world. One nonprofit is working with local organizations to improve older adults’ digital literacy, which one official says could help enhance service delivery in the long run.
The National Council on Aging has partnered with AT&T to offer digital skills training workshops at senior centers across the U.S., the nonprofit announced last month. The initiative aims to teach older adults how to use devices like laptops and mobile phones, as well as train them on how to leverage an email account, browse the internet safely and responsibly, identify fraud and scam threats, and other tasks.
Through the initiative, 50 local senior centers will have access to devices, like laptops, and training curriculum to offer digital literacy workshops for aging residents, said Dianne Stone, associate director of community partnerships and network activation at NCOA. In addition to the workshop sessions, participating senior centers will also offer office hours for residents to receive more individualized aid.
Older adults in particular rely on additional government services and resources as they often require more needs-based support, like transportation, health care or financial assistance, Stone said. As access to such services increasingly goes online, it’s crucial for community leaders to help aging adults feel confident and capable of interacting with the digital environment.
Indeed, “benefits applications, property tax information, utility assistance — you have to be able to navigate online for a lot of these services,” said Philip Huang, director and health authority for the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department.
DCHSS is one of several local agencies across the U.S. that are participating in NCOA’s digital skills program. It is not uncommon for senior citizens to need digital literacy-related services, but they often have varying capacities and abilities to access them, Stone explained. The NCOA initiative offers a more standardized curriculum for older adults.
A baseline understanding of digital service can lead to older adults being more self-sufficient, enabling agencies like DCHHS to be more efficient in service delivery, Huang said. Residents who can, for instance, complete online applications, upload documents or find information they need independently mean less administrative burden on agency staff to field calls or help in person.
More broadly, greater digital literacy allows staff to focus more on complex resident questions or tasks that need higher skills, and can help alleviate stress for family caregivers who assist their older relatives with such responsibilities, he explained.
Huang pointed to a recent growth in fraud and scam events targeting older adults. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the number of older adults who reported losing more than $10,000 to scams increased from 1,790 in 2020 to 8,269 in 2024. Training adults to better identify things like fraudulent emails or dangerous links could help reduce the amount of aging adults who compromise their data or finances, he said.
“Our seniors are our treasured population … so we really value offering as much support that we can for that population,” he said.
When it comes to digital literacy, officials must “start looking at technology as being just as important” as services aimed at maintaining aging adults’ nutrition, fall prevention and financial support, Stone said.