TECH NOW: Help your grandparents get wired

For seniors living without access to the latest gadgets, apps and online services, it's time to bridge the generation gap. In today's TECH NOW, how to get grandma and grandad up to speed and online.

Tech giant Intel, dosomething.org and some familiar Gen Y TV faces have teamed up to help non-techie seniors get up to speed and online through a campaign called "Grandparents Gone Wired."

Jillian Rose Reed and Brett Daver, young actors from MTV's "Awkward," dropped in at a Los Angeles senior center in Glendale, Calif., earlier this month to teach seniors about Facebook and email and how to stay connected with their relatives.

According to a recent study at the University of California, more seniors than ever before WANT to be connected — to keep in touch with children and grandchildren and the world at large. The study, funded by the National Institute on Aging, noted that staying active — and going beyond just diet and exercise – is important to healthy aging.

The dosomething.org site has all kinds of suggestions for helping seniors get connected.

Jennifer Jolly is an Emmy award-winning consumer tech contributor and host of USA TODAY's new daily digital TECH NOW . Email her at techcomments@usatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter: @JenniferJolly.