Health care, housing, and a good playlist: The benefits of free tech classes for Colorado seniors

Listen Now
16min 45sec
A man is seated next to a woman and is holding an iPhone to show her how it works.
Courtesy Senior Planet
Aaron Santis works with Ann-Marie Andrews-Jackson, 81, at the Senior Planet center in Denver.

Ann-Marie Andrews-Jackson worked with computers for years in her career as an executive secretary. But unlocking all the tools of her new iPhone could still be daunting.

“There were so many things, like the camera, and emails, and albums and all of this other stuff, that I knew it was there,” Andrews-Jackson, 81, said. “But for me, and I guess for a lot of seniors, you're scared to press a button because you don't know, you might break it or something.”

Andrews-Jackson is not alone in her trepidation about tech. While older Coloradans have a wide range of experience with technology, many still find it frustrating, complicated, and hard to manage. That creates a “digital divide,” a gap in literacy that can hinder access to healthcare, housing, food, and even friendships - all areas that technology increasingly permeates.

So Andrews-Jackson turned to Senior Planet Colorado, a nonprofit that offers free technology classes to older people. Some of the coursework is introductory, like how to set up your new Apple or Android device. Other classes target people still in the workforce with guidance on creating a LinkedIn profile and online job searching. More advanced topics explore artificial intelligence tools like Chat GPT and Gemini.

Dayton Romero, Senior Planet’s regional program manager, said the AI classes have been popular.

“People are so curious,” he said, adding that spotting “deep fakes” and understanding how AI can be misused is part of the curriculum. 

Romero said that while the classes are fun, narrowing the digital divide among older adults is important work, pointing out that Colorado considers access to technology a “super social determinant of health.”

For example, Romero said that getting older people familiar with the online portal MyChart, which many doctors and hospitals use to manage patient communication, can improve their access to healthcare.

“It's powerful in the fact that it equips people with information about knowing what's going on with their doctor's office, what's going on with their prescriptions, all on that app,” he said.  

Romero said that access to technology can also reduce isolation among older people. 

“75 percent of our participants reported feeling better equipped to find resources. 67 percent of our participants felt less alone. 78 percent of our participants feel more connected to the world,” he said. “Knowing which resources to tap into to meet your needs is so critical for all of us.”

A group of people is seated at a counter in the Senior Planet center in Lowry with laptop computers as they are taught how the computers work.
Courtesy Senior Planet
Aaron Santis teaches a class at the Senior Planet center in Denver’s Lowry neighborhood. The classes are targeted at learners aged 60 and above, but anyone over 50 is welcome.

The Senior Planet center in Denver’s Lowry neighborhood is one of six nationwide where people can take classes in person. In addition, there are dozens of classes online, and even a hotline available to answer individual questions. To reach people outside the Denver metro area, Senior Planet teams up with libraries, senior centers and other nonprofits across Colorado, including the YMCA in Colorado Springs and the Eagle Valley Library District. While classes are targeted to learners aged 60 and up, anyone over 50 is welcome.

As for Ann-Marie Andrews-Jackson, she has graduated from iPhone basics and is now mastering all sorts of tech tools. She’s used the graphic design tool Canva to make an invitation and even design the program for her own funeral. One of her favorite classes introduced her to the music app Spotify.

“There were about seven or eight of us in the class, and we had a graduation party at the end of our class, and we created the song list for the party,” she said. “I know I did some Temptations and Aretha and people like that. I mean, we had some blues, we had some jazz, we had some rock. We had Country Western between all of us. It was just songs that we liked. It was fun.”

This story is a part of Aging Matters, a series from Colorado Matters about the Centennial State's aging population. Read more stories here.