With longer life expectancies and rapid technological disruptions, lifelong learning is needed to maintain and increase one’s knowledge and skills as we grow older. Enhancing the literacy and competency of older persons to access resources enables them to be independent and age-in-place in their communities.
Beyond general information and digital literacy, financial literacy and access to livelihood opportunities are critical aspects of ageing well that is especially relevant for older persons in countries with limited social protection and vulnerable to shocks such as natural disasters. These trainings should be complemented with education of older adults to assess risks that they face, and understand their causes/reasons, so they can better mobilize resources to address them.
- Provide training and seed capital for interested older persons to start and manage businesses. These can be an extension of what older persons enjoy doing, or are good at, to find ways in which these activities can generate income. Seed capital can either be provided by a non-profit organization, or even pooled by community members. see Case Study 2.2a.
- Build up a pipeline of freelance work or ‘micro-jobs’ for older persons in the community. These are usually senior-friendly, task-type jobs (e.g., medical escorts, surveyors) collated by agencies in the community that can be completed by older persons rather than outsourced to other contractors. Technology companies such as Grab can play an important role in offering micro-jobs and making their platform more accessible and inclusive.
- Teach financial literacy to older persons, especially to older women without regular income, see Case Study 2.2b on related programs.
The Citi-Tsao Foundation Financial Education Programme for Mature Women, targets low-income women above 40 years of age whose family income ranges from $1,500 to $2,500 monthly. The programme consists of 12 weekly sessions of two hours each. Participants are taught about savings and planning for the long term, budgeting, and investing.
COSE built the capacity of Older Persons Associations in Bulacan, Philippines to provide livelihood training. Older persons were coached to explore what business they wanted to start, hand-in-hand with a seed capital, and training on how to run a business. Some of the business such as soap making and selling rice were still operative after the program ended.
Access to livelihood opportunities and financial security increase the ability of older persons to cope with unexpected emergencies. It also provides them an avenue to be active and contribute their skills.
- Conduct workshops to equip older persons with knowledge on how to use basic technologies (e.g., Whatsapp, zoom) so they can stay connected with family and friends, see Case Study 2.2c.
- Teach older persons basic digital literacy and how to guard against online scams
Training on digital literacy and use of information communication technologies (ICT) for older persons in Singapore during the pandemic in early 2021. Youths aged 18 to 24 were recruited to teach older persons. The series of workshops were well-received by older persons who also enjoyed the interactions with the youths.
COVID-19 has intensified the digital divide faced by older persons due inequitable access and unfamiliarity in using technology. To access wider resources, older persons need basic digital literacy to go online, stay connected with friends and family, and protect themselves from online scams.
- Educate and introduce self-monitoring tools for older persons to assess their readiness to cope with age-related changes and take follow-up actions. For example, checklists for chronic disease management, home improvement for falls prevention, advance care planning to making caregiving arrangements, see Case Study 2.2d and 2.2e.
- Communicate information on environment and technological changes, and how these may impact older persons, through infographics and in languages that are easily accessible and understandable by older persons.
Pairing of medical and nursing students in Don Keow University to older adults in the community as part of their curriculum. Students and faculty members periodically visit older persons to conduct routine health checks. During these visits, students/faculty members would teach older persons to assess their own health using self-assessment toolkits.
Working with academics from the local university and practitioners, Whampoa ComSA created a risk screener that can be used by older persons themselves to screen their health. The screener assesses biological, psychological, and social health to determine the level of ‘risk’ that they face in each domain. Recommendations on programs and services are provided based on the scoring.
The ability to monitor one’s risk increases one’s awareness to manage it. The focus on self-management also encourages older persons to be proactive in accessing resources for their needs.
- Teach older persons participatory research methods, to inquire and understand more about issues (be it at their neighborhood and national level e.g., policies) that affect them.
- Train and provide avenues for older persons to share their research findings and recommendations through social media platforms, educational videos, and engagement with stakeholders, see Case Study 2.2f.
Participants in the EMPOWER program received informal training in various media and communication methods (e.g., posters, educational videos, group chats, to conversational skills for public outreach). For example, they produced a video to raise public awareness of caregivers’ stress based on a research study they conducted. Participants created the storyboard and worked with a media company to act in and edit the video.
Doing so allows older persons to better advocate for their needs through greater consciousness of the extent of barriers and challenges faced across subgroups of older persons.
Older persons can be more resilient when they have the literacy and skills to assess problems that they face and obtain information/resources to address them. Equipping them with skills in a holistic way, from digital training, financial literacy, livelihood opportunities to health literacy enhances their capacity to understand their problems, access resources, Problem-solve (IC8) and be Self-reliant (IC6). As highlighted in 3.5, reliance on short-term services without ability to manage one’s problems, could promote learned helplessness, reduce self-esteem and resilience. Older adults with the skills, agency, and Sense of Control (IC4) to address problems faced are more likely to have higher well-being and can in turn participate and contribute to their communities. This good practice is therefore closely related to the Good Practice 3.5 on empowering older adults outlined.
- Instead of developing own self-assessment tool kits, there are many geriatric examination tool kits and self-assessment tool kits for older persons available that community program managers can use to teach their senior participants.
- Digital literacy efforts should be sensitive to potential visual or physical impediments or that prevent older persons from interfacing with digital gadgets, and fear of technology (e.g., fear of pressing the ‘wrong’ button). Affordability also serves as a barrier for the uptake of digitalisation efforts, especially amongst vulnerable and socially isolated seniors of lower socio-economic status.
- More socially engaging online interactions will need to be explored so that older persons reap the same benefits as in-person programs as participants may feel less connected using technologies like Zoom.
- Research methods such as participatory learning for action and photovoice are particularly useful tools for participatory research with older persons, as they allow more reflection to elicit rich sharing of perspectives, as well as interaction with place as part of data collection.
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