There may be a lot more “selfies” and updates in Facebook’s newsfeed from adults 70 years old and up very soon. The Legacy Senior Communities recently sponsored a free class at The Aaron Family Jewish Community Center of Dallas in which older adults learned more about the popular social network – Facebook. The opportunity helped seniors throughout Dallas familiarize themselves with a new way to communicate and gave many individuals the confidence they need to keep up with their kids and grandkids online. About 30 seniors gathered at the event, and they brought their personal mobile devices with them to use during the seminar.
“This was more than a basic tutorial on how to use Facebook and how to 'Like' photos and posts for these individuals,” said Lindsay Feldman Community Relations Coordinator for The Legacy Senior Communities. “This seminar was about showing them how to stay connected with their family members and friends. We take pride in providing programming that teaches our residents and seniors about the latest trends and helps them become tech savvy.”
Randy Milstein from the Managed IT Services Provider HBR Technologies led the presentation, and volunteers were on-hand to provide one-on-one instructions and walk participants through the set-up process. Questions ranged from how to make a profile and log on to what it means to be “Poked” and how to share photos. Concerns about privacy and security settings also were addressed to ease the seniors’ minds about hackers and the public knowing all of their personal information.
Many of those in attendance regularly go to the Aaron Family JCC of Dallas to work out, enjoy the various activities offered there on weekly rotations and mingle with friends from around the area or have lunch. The Legacy Senior Communities partners with the JCC to provide seminars and programs like this one on “How to Use Facebook.” The classes are held multiple times a year based on the interests and requests of seniors. This particular class was meant to be a unique and helpful experience for them to learn how to keep in touch in a more modern and digitally interactive way. Seniors were happy to discover ways to “Like” pages and receive updates on places or activities of interest to them, but most importantly, it was helpful for them to know they can keep in touch with family members just by logging onto their computers.
“We were very grateful and excited to have The Legacy Senior Communities bring in an IT expert and volunteers to discuss Facebook with folks here at the JCC,” said Katharine Teicher, Senior Adult Program Director at the Aaron Family JCC of Dallas. “It was a beneficial presentation and opened the door to more conversations about this next step in the evolution of the communication world. I think many who attended will be surprising their grandkids and relatives as they start ‘Adding Friends’ and keeping up more with what’s being shared online or ‘Liking’ more photos and posts.”
Feldman described the JCC of Dallas as many seniors’ social scene. Now she and The Legacy Senior Communities’ staff as well as the JCC staff members hope they have created another type of social scene for the seniors to enjoy. They plan to hold follow-up sessions on the topic of Facebook to answer more of the seniors’ questions and provide additional assistance as needed.
The Legacy Senior Communities, Inc. is the parent company of The Legacy Willow Bend, The Legacy Preston Hollow and The Legacy at Home.
The Legacy Preston Hollow, is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit, faith-based senior living residence that offers a continuum of care allowing residents to stay in place with assisted living, short-term rehabilitation, skilled nursing, and long term care. Built in 2001, the community features 41 assisted living apartments, 113 skilled nursing beds and a state-of-the-art Medicare unit. The Legacy Preston Hollow is the Dallas Home for the Jewish Aged and a partner agency of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas. The community is family service-oriented and open to people of all faiths. For questions regarding admissions, please call (214) 363-5100 or visit www.thelegacyPH.org.
The Legacy Willow Bend, Plano’s first and only life care retirement community, is situated on a 28-acre site at Spring Creek Parkway between Preston Road and Ohio Drive. The Legacy Willow Bend offers resort-style services and amenities for active, independent seniors, as well as all levels of health care services on-site. The community features 103 independent living apartment homes, 12 custom independent living villas, 40 assisted living apartment homes, 18 memory support suites, and 60 private skilled healthcare suites.
The Legacy Willow Bend is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit retirement community owned by parent company, The Legacy Senior Communities, Inc. The Legacy Willow Bend, the only Jewish-sponsored life care retirement community in Texas, is open to people of all faiths. For information, call (972) 468-6208, or visit www.thelegacyWB.org.
The Legacy at Home is a home health care option for seniors in the Greater Dallas area that brings an experienced team of professionals to the home to continue recovery from an illness, injury or surgery. The skilled team of nurses, therapists, dieticians, and medical social workers offers coordinated services to ensure each person’s transition is seamless.
The Medicare certified, Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP) accredited, comprehensive home health agency that began serving families in July of 2011, recently received accreditation from the National Institute for Jewish Hospice (NIJH) as the only Jewish-sponsored home health care agency in the United States.
The Legacy at Home provides Private Duty Services and Personal Care Services. The Private Duty Services include private duty nurses who provide wound care, medication management, and diabetic care IV therapy. Physical, occupational, speech therapy and respiratory therapy is also available. The Personal Care Services offer certified nurses’ aides and personal assistants for assistance with activities of daily living, respite care and companion services.