Age Friendly Tucker: Effective Communication Requires Multiple Tactics

Dr. Lois Ricci

Humans have always had an essential need for communication, with the technology evolving along with human civilization. Communication transfers information to produce greater understanding, and remains one of life’s most important skills. Today, people communicate in ways few could have imagined a decade ago, with 4.66 billion active internet users worldwide - 59.5 percent of the global population. Of this total, 92.6 percent (4.32 billion) access the internet via mobile devices. A world without the internet is unimaginable. Connecting billions of people worldwide, the internet is a core pillar of the modern information society. But Age-Friendly Communities recognize that information needs to be shared through a variety of methods since not everyone is tech-savvy, and not everyone has a smartphone or home-based access to or interest in the internet.

Communication is one of the eight domains addressed in the Age Friendly Tucker Action Plan, which includes both digital and “old-school” methods of transferring information. Albert and Mary Still are leading the communications plans for the Action Plan; they are long-time members of the Tucker Optimists Club as well as the Tucker Civic Association.

• The Tucker Civic Association website (tuckercivic.org) has been updated and made more user-friendly, with links to pages for the Lifelong

Community Committee and Age Friendly Tucker as well as many other

Tucker organizations and services. • Bulletin boards will be created at several locations such as city hall, libraries, schools, grocery stores, big box stores, and Main Street, where information and resources will be posted for visitors. • A community directory of existing organizations and activities will be created and regularly updated. • This directory will be distributed electronically to the listed organizations, schools, employment organizations, athletic organizations, Tucker Cofer library, places of worship and other appropriate organizations, for easy access to interested parties. • This directory in pamphlet form will be distributed to new residents and new businesses via welcome packets. • Wi-Fi will be available at no charge in public places citywide.

Being able to communicate our thoughts, opinions, and wishes to others has always been important for our individual and species survival. In today’s technological world, where people are isolated as much as connected, this ability is more important than ever. We can’t not communicate. Thanks to modern technologies, we can now connect to virtually any person from any place. The evolution of communication is an on-going project, but the same techniques may not work for all people in all situations. The culture of each person, his or her gender, the environment, and the individual’s goals will determine how the person approaches and accesses communication. The task for a lifelong or age friendly city is to work to make information accessible to everyone however they best communicate. Dr. Lois Ricci is a longtime resident of Tucker, where she chairs the Tucker Civic Association Lifelong Community Committee. She serves as an adjunct faculty member at Kennesaw State University, where she teaches gerontology courses and the Professional Development in Gerontology Certificate Class. Ricci also serves as an official representative for American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), co-facilitator for the Rosalyn Carter CareNet, and on the board of the Atlanta Regional Commission Advisory Committee on Aging.