SCC-PG: Building Resilience during Disasters through Digital Inclusion of Older Adults: A Smart and Connected Community Research Initiative

Smart and connected communities are critically important for community resilience during and after disasters such as the COVID pandemic. Those who experience the digital divide through lack of access to the Internet or the lack of skills to use it effectively can experience a deleterious effect on their resilience. Research shows that poorer communities, especially older adults in those communities, are particularly vulnerable to the digital divide. A digitally empowered older and disabled community will not only be prepared to prevent or minimize the risk of damage to health/life, livelihood, property, and the environment due to disasters but also have the ability to quickly recover from and return to their everyday life and livelihood after a crisis. This research will identify critical parameters to enhance recovery and resilience planning of older adults related to pandemics and disasters. It will provide a foundation for identifying essential pillars needed for increasing a community's resilience and capability in responding to their environment. This collaborative proposal with primary stakeholders, the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), Westside Community Partnership, the R&D league, City of San Antonio (COSA) and San Antonio Oasis Institute, and Goodwill will employ a use-inspired research approach, grounded in an understanding of community cooperativeness, cohesiveness, user community digital needs and challenges.

The focus of this planning grant is two-fold: 1) research and identify the obstacles to the use of technology by the older adults on the West Side, one of the poorest communities in the City of San Antonio through a pilot study and 2) based on the pilot, develop a plan for a national study (for example, Atlanta in partnership with Atlanta Regional Commission) on the roadblocks to enhancing scalable strategies to enhance the quality of life through improved community cohesiveness, and digital inclusion of divergent communities. This research will impact the resilience of the workforce and micro-businesses that are affected by the digital access and literacy challenges of older adults in these poorer communities as owners, employees, and customers. Learning modules related to this project will educate students and older adults on mechanisms for improving emergency resilience and conduct workshops for emergency responders and organizations about the community-supported response. Research output will include white papers on measures of resilience, resilience building of older and disabled communities, collaborative user-based research frameworks, and evaluation of digital interventions.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.