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

智能和互联社区对于社区在COVID大流行等灾难期间和之后的复原力至关重要。那些因无法使用互联网或缺乏有效利用互联网的技能而体验到数字鸿沟的人，可能会体验到对其复原力的有害影响。研究表明，较贫穷的社区，特别是这些社区中的老年人，特别容易受到数字鸿沟的影响。一个数字赋能的老年人和残疾人社区不仅准备好预防或最大限度地减少灾害对健康/生命、生计、财产和环境造成的损害，而且还有能力在危机发生后迅速恢复和恢复日常生活和生计。这项研究将确定关键参数，以加强老年人与流行病和灾害有关的恢复和复原力规划。它将为确定提高社区在应对环境方面的复原力和能力所需的基本支柱奠定基础。这项与主要利益相关者、德克萨斯大学圣安东尼奥分校(UTSA)、西区社区伙伴关系、研发联盟、圣安东尼奥市(COSA)和圣安东尼奥绿洲研究所以及Goodwill的合作提案将采用以使用为基础的研究方法，其基础是理解社区的协作性、凝聚力、用户社区的数字需求和挑战。这笔规划赠款的重点有两方面：1)通过试点研究，研究并确定圣安东尼奥市最贫穷的社区之一--西区老年人使用技术的障碍；2)在试点的基础上，制定一项全国性研究计划(例如，亚特兰大与亚特兰大地区委员会合作)，探讨通过改善社区凝聚力和数字包容不同社区来加强可扩展战略以提高生活质量的障碍。这项研究将影响劳动力和微型企业的弹性，这些劳动力和微型企业受到这些较贫穷社区的老年人作为所有者、员工和客户的数字接入和识字挑战的影响。与该项目有关的学习单元将教育学生和老年人提高应急能力的机制，并为应急人员和组织举办关于社区支持的应急工作的讲习班。研究成果将包括关于弹性测量、老年和残疾社区的弹性建设、基于用户的协作研究框架和数字干预评估的白皮书。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.