LIFE Butler County client Patricia Kriebel of Slippery Rock checks out a GrandPad prior to the center being closed in August.

COVID-19 has kept the doors of LIFE Butler County's center at 231 W. Diamond St. mostly closed to avoid the chance of exposure for its 186 senior-citizen clients.

But isolation was increasing depression and anxiety among those seniors, said Ingrid Tallarico, resident therapy manager for LIFE Butler County, the adult day health center.

Connecting seniors at home via the internet brought its own risk of exposure: to scammers, spammers and con artists.

Still, she said, the pressure was on to come up with something that would allow clients to socialize even during a pandemic shutdown.

Tallarico said a grant from the Pittsburgh-based George H. Campbell, Lillian S. Campbell and Mary S. Campbell Foundation allowed the center to start a pilot program to bypass all these problems by using a GrandPad, a simplified and secure computer tablet that connects older users to family and friends while blocking out unwanted callers, emailers and websites.

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Ingrid Tallarico, the recreation therapy manager of LIFE Butler County, demonstrates the GrandPad.