Our elders are suffering in the dark. Since COVID-19 hit all regions of the globe, social distancing became a social norm. While minimized physical contact has helped prevent the spread of the disease, the isolation impacted our emotions and relationships inducing an onset of loneliness and depression. Since the pandemic, the elderly are facing a higher risk of premature death, dementia, heart disease, and strokes. An interaction with society is important to lower such health risks.

Students from Texas' Porter High School began brainstorming ideas for how they could build the elderly's connection with the outside world. Prioritizing the feasibility and ease of access, the students picked a combination of an app and website as the design matrix.

Immediately after the base of their app was chosen, the students put their heads together to engineer and code from scratch. They excitedly shared and incorporated a variety of STEM ideas and resources like MIT App Inventor and WordPress, and made a mock-up of the app and website “Gen Bridge” that elders could use on a tablet. The students picked out bright colors and large fonts to use on Gen Bridge so that elders can easily navigate. The app has three main features: video calls, games, and events.

“On the first day of the one-on-one video chat, I could tell we are going to make a huge difference in our community. I was paired with one of the elders in the neighborhood nursing home who told me that she was 'having a very bad day and was depressed'. We instantly began having a long conversation with each other and she began smiling. It felt like I changed her complete day.”

“Each participant is given a general happiness scale at the beginning and end of each session. Today, we have a 100% increase in happiness and 84% of them increased by more than five slots.”

The students have given the elderly residents something to look forward to. A reason to get up in the morning, a reason to get dressed.

Recognized for their kind hearts and contributions to society, the student developers of Gen Bridge are one of the National Winner teams of the US Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition. So far, Gen Bridge is available on tablets that have been donated by the residents and personalized for the users. The students hope to continue growing the project by partnering with more facilities and helping more residents in a battle against the depression induced by the pandemic.