|
Award
Winners
2000
BUSINESS AWARD
The
ASA Business of the Year Awards, one for large companies and one for
medium/small companies, recognize exemplary company programs that meet
the needs of older people and their families, expand public awareness
of the private sector's increasing involvement with older people and
create performance models for other companies to emulate.
LARGE
COMPANY
 SBC
Communications Inc.
San Antonio, TX
 For
more than 15 years, SBC Communications Inc. has been a corporate partner
in developing and supporting older adult initiatives on both the state
and national level. SBC has the longest history of dedicating managers
to working with older adult populations and informing them about telecommunications
issues.
SBC is one of the
world's leading diversified telecommunications companies and one of
the nation's leading wireless communications providers. Through its
subsidiaries, SBC provides innovative telecommunications products and
services under the Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell, Nevada Bell, Cellular
One and SNET brands. SBC has focused on creating greater opportunities
for older adults to access technology and the latest telecommunications
services.
SBC sees older adults
as a group that has been neglected in this age of technology, largely
due to common--and unfair--stereotypes that depict elders as uninterested
in technology or incapable of learning. SBC believes older adults can,
and should, benefit from technology advancements. Since 1984 it has
been committed to supporting elders' telecommunications issues and providing
services that educate and empower older adults.
SBC has formed strategic
alliances with national and local organizations, like SeniorNet, that
share its vision to educate older adults about technology, including
outreach to cultural minority populations. To this end, it also sponsors
technology showcases and interactive exhibits at local community events.
However, just as
technology can be used to improve the lives of older adults, it can
also be used to manipulate them. One of the most common scams is telemarketing
fraud. Unfortunately, unethical companies prey on older adults because
they are home more often, have readily available assets, and may feel
obligated to stay on the phone with callers instead of hanging up. In
fact, it is estimated that more than half of all telemarketing fraud
victims are 50 or older.
To empower older
adults to guard themselves against telephone fraud, SBC created and
launched Seniors Against Fraud, a unique consumer campaign to educate
older adults about phone fraud and give them the tools needed to protect
themselves--and fight back. To effectively reach the older adult population,
SBC formed a coalition with national, state and local consumer law enforcement
agencies and senior advocacy groups in the company's service territories
to launch a grassroots awareness campaign.
In September 1999,
SBC partnered with SeniorNet to launch the Southwestern Bell Scams and
Fraud Center, an online consumer education center for older adults.
It features information about common telephone fraud and scams, and
provides consumer tips on fraud prevention and a list of important resources.
It is the first initiative of its kind for any telecommunications company.
SMALL
COMPANY
 Vialog
Corporation
Chanhassen, MN
 Party
Lines is an innovative, award-winning program of the Plainville, CT,
Senior Citizens Center that links ten or more homebound older adults
in a conference call for an hour of entertainment, companionship, discussion
and educational programming. During these calls, participants talk about
a myriad of subjects ranging from nutrition to reminiscence of school
days. They may play games like trivia or bingo. The program also sponsors
special teleconferencing events, such as museum tours via telephone,
poetry readings, safety discussions, sing-alongs and much more.
A Business Conference-Call
Inc., a Vialog Corporation service, began to subsidize the Party Lines
program in 1995 after the local telephone company raised its conference
call rates from $6.90 per hour to $350.00 per hour. The price increase
threatened to destroy a wonderful, well-utilized program serving elders
most at risk.
Calls to other
telephone companies in the area were to no avail; none would assist
in saving the program. Thankfully, Vialog Corporation stepped in and
saved Party Lines. A Business Conference-Call allows the program to
pay only $30.00 per call; the company pays the rest. Vialog's response
is a good example of a replicable public-private partnership that highlights
how doing the right thing in a small way can make a big difference.
A Business Conference-Call
has also developed similar programs in the state of Minnesota. They have
expanded the program to target vision-impaired individuals at the Westonka
Senior Center and at Northern Lights. They have helped raise community
awareness about the plight of the frail and isolated homebound elderly.
This population is among the most vulnerable in our society, and through
programs like Party Lines these elders are able to develop lasting friendships,
exercise their minds and feel like a valuable part of society.
Prior to each teleconference,
participants receive a flyer explaining what subject will be discussed
at the session. The program coordinator also calls and visits each member
to deliver trivia contests, photos and the like, and later returns to
pick up the information.
The program, then,
ensures that participants will receive two personal visits from the
coordinator or volunteers. These visits are important for two reasons.
First and foremost, the coordinator, functioning much like a gatekeeper,
is able to view the elders' surroundings and detect any changes in their
physical or emotional health. Second, the coordinator is able to talk
face-to-face with the homebound individual, often providing that person's
only contact with an outsider. Without Vialog's support, it would be
difficult to monitor the homebound clients. The state homecare agency
has used the Party Lines program as a way to evaluate homebound services.
One of the clients admitted that without Party Lines she would have
no contact with any other person.
|
