{"id":16707,"date":"2016-12-15T05:00:40","date_gmt":"2016-12-15T13:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/?p=16707"},"modified":"2026-02-22T15:33:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T23:33:53","slug":"meet-the-geezer-squad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/meet-the-geezer-squad\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlanta’s Geezer Squad"},"content":{"rendered":"

In one Atlanta senior care facility, residents keep IT support in-house, thanks to the Geezer Squad.<\/em><\/p>\n

Tech hiccups can fell even the most tech savvy amongst us. For senior citizens, reboots and restarts are difficult to navigate. While sometimes a wayward gran\"shutterstock_127260269\"dchild can be corralled into providing IT support, not everyone has access to a preteen tech support.<\/p>\n

Enter the Geezer Squad.<\/p>\n

At one senior living facility in Atlanta, GA, residents aren\u2019t outsourcing IT support. They’re keeping the fix in-house by deploying a team of fellow residents trained to fix most tech related problems.<\/p>\n

Beyond the Computer Lab<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Jim Cochrane arrived at Lenbrook,<\/a> a continuing care retirement community in Atlanta, most of his fellow residents depended on the computer lab for their online activities. Over the years, smartphones and tablets have taken over, providing more options but also opening the door to more confusion. Responding to the need for one-on-one help, Cochrane and his tech team decided to step into the void.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Geezer Squad part just developed naturally,\u201d Lenbrook resident Jim Cochrane tells Senior Housing News<\/a>. \u201cMost of the residents now know who to call when they have a problem. People get stuck, and they don\u2019t know what to do next. We can show them how to connect to the Internet, et cetera \u2026In our population, some folks are reluctant, but getting them to feel confident is important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Resident-Powered Support<\/strong><\/p>\n

When a modem goes down, or a password won\u2019t work, the Geezer Squad answers the call. With over 1000 service calls under their belt, the Geezer Squad has expanded its expertise beyond the occasion router. According to Cochrane, the number and variety of devices the Geek Squad services \u201chas exploded.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have three distinct levels of technology users,\u201d says Lenbrook CFO Daniel Dornblaser. \u201cWe have people who don\u2019t use technology in their day-to-day lives, no cell phones. We have folks in the middle who might use some [tech], like emails. Then we have the folks who are texting all the time, emailing, using Netflix.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a resident-developed group that is there to help fellow residents about various IT issues,\u201d says Dornblaser. \u201cThe group has people who are proficient in Apple computers, iPads, tablets, cell phones. The squad is available to help residents whenever there is a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Will and a Way<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cochrane, a graduate of Georgia tech who\u2019s career at Bell Laboratories focused on programming and computer system design, took the initiative after seeing a real need for tech assistance and education. With small group of about four volunteers at his side, Cochrane helps Lenbrook\u2019s 400 residents manage devices and learn how to use technology to stay connected with friends and family.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout six months after starting the classes, I realized that we needed to form a support group to help residents with specific problems,\u201d says Cochrane. \u201cMostly we help with email, downloading photos of the grandchildren, sending documents and photos to family and the like. We keep a log and — average 12 house calls a month.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, we worked almost entirely on residents’\u00a0personal computers\u00a0— Macs and Windows machines,\u201d he continues. \u201cMore often now, though, we’re more likely to be helping someone set up and use their new “device.” By device, I mean an iPad or smartphone or some sort of tablet or e-reader. They are a popular gift from the “grown kids, ” and we’re seeing residents using them in the lobby and in our restaurants.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there was a bit of wariness about these modern gadgets and gizmos, Cochrane discovered that a little patience \u2013 combined with some incentives \u2013 usually did the trick.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt turns out, when someone has a strong motivation to use email, they\u2019ll learn it. That\u2019s what usually brought people in – they wanted to email their grandchildren.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In one Atlanta senior care facility, residents keep IT support in-house, thanks to the Geezer Squad. Tech hiccups can fell even the most tech savvy amongst us. For senior citizens, reboots and restarts are difficult to navigate. While sometimes a wayward grandchild can be corralled into providing IT support, not everyone has access to a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":16724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_s2mail":"yes","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2952,6],"tags":[233,842,868,76],"class_list":["post-16707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-senior-living","category-technology","tag-cloud-computing-consumer-technology","tag-senior-living","tag-seniors","tag-technology-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nYardi Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In one Atlanta senior care facility, residents keep IT support in-house, thanks to the Geezer Squad. 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