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Good practice Imported

Fly Like an Eagle — Senior Planet's NYCHA Digital-Literacy Program Cuts Loneliness Among NYC Public-Housing Seniors

United States of America · New York City · See the United States of America profile · See the New York City profile

Evidence: Quasi-experimental Top 30% 88/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

OATS from AARP's Senior Planet ran twice-weekly Zoom digital-skills classes for low-income NYC public-housing seniors. An evaluation with a comparison group found trained seniors were about half as likely to develop worsening depressive symptoms.

~10,000 low-income older adults
Participants reached (2018-2022)
2x rate vs comparison group
New social contacts made online (evaluation period)
60 % of participants
Joined a new social event/group (evaluation period)
about half as likely relative to comparison group
Reduced likelihood of worsening depressive symptoms (evaluation period)
20 percentage points higher
Reported feeling less lonely, vs comparison group (evaluation period)
Fly Like an Eagle — Senior Planet's NYCHA Digital-Literacy Program Cuts Loneliness Among NYC Public-Housing Seniors

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) from AARP
Period
2018–2022 (evaluation); programme ongoing
Keywords
digital literacy, ageing, social services, public housing

Context

Senior Planet, the flagship programme of Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) from AARP, delivered structured digital-literacy classes to residents of New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) buildings.

Objectives

The programme aimed to build digital skills (online navigation, email basics, internet safety) among low-income older adults and to test effects on social connection and mental health.

Activities

Classes ran twice a week over Zoom for five weeks as part of a public-private partnership that reached roughly 10,000 low-income older adults; OATS's 'Fly Like an Eagle' evaluation compared trained participants against a nontrained comparison group.

Results

Participants made new social contacts online at twice the rate of the comparison group; 60% joined a new social event or group (more than double the comparison rate); trained seniors were about half as likely to report worsening depressive symptoms; and over half reported feeling less lonely, 20 percentage points higher than the comparison group.

Conclusions

The evaluation relies on self-reported outcomes and a nonrandomized comparison group rather than a randomized design, so causal claims should be read with caution; OATS has used the findings to expand corporate partnerships (including AT&T, 2025) beyond NYCHA.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — Cost not itemised in source; delivered via public-private partnership with corporate partners (e.g., AT&T from 2025) supporting expansion.
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years) — Each cohort ran twice-weekly Zoom classes over five weeks; evaluation period 2018-2022, with the programme ongoing and expanding since.
Staffing & skills
OATS (Older Adults Technology Services, from AARP) programme staff/instructors delivering twice-weekly Zoom classes, Public-private partnership network reaching NYCHA residents, Corporate partners (e.g., AT&T, from 2025) supporting programme expansion

Conditions for success

  • Structured, repeated curriculum (online navigation, email basics, internet safety) delivered twice weekly over five weeks
  • Public-private partnership model to reach NYCHA (public housing) residents at scale
  • Comparison-group evaluation design to track outcomes against non-participants

Common failure modes

  • Evaluation relies on self-reported outcomes and a nonrandomized comparison group rather than a randomized design, so causal claims warrant caution

Where it fits

Governance type
nonprofit-delivered, public-private partnership
Scale
city-wide (NYCHA, ~10,000 participants)
Income level
high-income (USA)

Commonly funded by

Philanthropic / foundation funding National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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