ALBANY — The New York State Office for the Aging and Association on Aging in New York (AgingNY) are expanding their partnership with Discover Live to offer interactive, immersive, virtual tours from around the world for older adults, supporting physical wellness, social connections, and brain health.
To date, NYSOFA, AgingNY and Discover Live have already provided 734 virtual tours to 11,010 older adult attendees at 51 host sites across New York State. The availability of tours is being expanded to an additional 51 host sites, doubling this offering to thousands more older adults. Host locations include senior centers, congregate meal sites, and Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs), among other community spaces where older adults already participate in social-engagement programming.
Locally, seniors interested in experiencing virtual tours can contact the Senior Citizens Council of Clinton County at 518-563-6180.
Tours to date have included: Bahia, Brazil; Washington, DC; Croatia; Banff, Canada; Hawaii; Assisi, Italy; Gdansk, Poland; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Dublin, Ireland; Mexico City; Lisbon, Portugal; and so many more.
“There are many reasons that older adults don’t or can’t travel. This includes fear of falls, finances, fear of COVID, and having no one to travel with. This partnership accomplishes many things. It increases friendships and combats loneliness by organizing groups to meet up to five times per month, traveling to more than 200 locations across the globe. This experience allows people to learn about various cultures, traditions, and, even for many, to virtually visit where their ancestors came from. We are so pleased to expand this partnership to another 51 host sites across New York State,” Aging Director Greg Olsen said.
Association on Aging in New York (AgingNY) Executive Director Becky Preve said, “The ability for older individuals to participate in live, interactive, and safe travel across the globe via Discover Live has been inspirational. This program breaks down many of the barriers faced by older individuals that limit the ability to travel abroad, and allow this travel virtually, in real time. The Association on Aging in New York applauds this partnership that is showing incredible outcomes for individuals who participate. We are thrilled to see this expansion.”
Since 2017, Discover Live has utilized live HD video – through platforms like Zoom – to connect older adults with expert tour guides from around the world. The guides are live and on-location, engaging and interacting with participants who enjoy these immersive experiences. To date, the NYSOFA and AgingNY partnership with Discover Live has brought older adults to five continents, 67 cities and 25 countries.
NYSOFA’s work with Discover Live is among more than 20 public-private partnerships with leading technology innovators, transforming the field of aging services, addressing social determinants of health, and connecting older adults.
Combating social isolation and improving overall health and wellness have been a cornerstone of the aging services network for decades. Eye-opening data on the health impact of social isolation led NYSOFA to begin establishing a series of public-private partnerships, recognizing the many technological tools that now exist to fill in service gaps, enhance services, and address workforce shortages. According to AARP and the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), loneliness and isolation are equivalent to smoking almost a pack of cigarettes per day, cost Medicare more than $7 billion to treat, make chronic conditions worse, increase mortality, depression and anxiety, and increase the risk of developing dementia.
Learn more about NYSOFA’s public-private partnerships. Read our NYS Innovations in Aging report and watch our video series at: https://aging.ny.gov/innovations-aging
Staff Writer Robin Caudell contributed to this report.