The Drum Beat 205 - Older People and Participation

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Today 1 in 10 persons is 60 or older; by 2050 1 in 5 persons (2 billion) will be 60 or older, 80% of whom will live in poor countries.

Clearly, we are getting older. One might assume that, as our bodies age, it is health problems that warrant the greatest share of attention and funds. However, there are other issues and constraints - like access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) and involvement in community politics and policies.

This issue of the Drum Beat examines communication initiatives related to the participation of older people in development.

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RIGHTS

1. Radio/Video Project on Older People's Rights - Africa
Africa Regional Development Centre, a component of HelpAge International, launched a series of radio plays and a 2-part video focussed on the rights of older people. Five 14-minute radio plays explore health, poverty, abandonment, HIV/AIDS, and violence and abuse. The videos examine rights-related problems and solutions as described by older people themselves; the first video also explains the relevance of instruments such as the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and People's Rights to older people.
Contact pmunyama@helpage.co.ke or abaiya@helpage.co.ke

2. Women's Voices - Kenya
The Intermediate Technology Development Group set out to talk to women, most of whom were over the age of 60, in very poor urban areas in Kenya to find out which issues were most pressing and how they might communicate with policymakers. For 4 days the women learned scripting, shooting, and editing and discussed showing rough-cuts to their entire community and asking for contributions to the narratives. The videos indicate that tenure insecurity is their central concern. The videos also focus on HIV/AIDS, the number of orphans, and the plight of elderly grandparents, as well as the scarcity of men within their communities.
Contact maggief@itdg.org.uk or catherinen@itdg.or.ke

3. Gender Watch - Pakistan
Launched by SACHET, this television series is designed to help people understand that discrimination on the basis of gender stymies the development of Pakistan as a whole, and to advocate that men and women work together to solve this problem. One topic addressed is the intersection between gender and the elderly. Gender Watch includes information, interviews, poetry, songs, and a post office segment.
Contact agehi@isb.pol.com.pk or agehi@sachet.org.pk

4. A Matter of Rights [video series]
Package 2, Older Persons and People with Disabilities, focusses on noteworthy elderly. It also promotes living with disabilities healthfully and securing a barrier-free environment.

5. eInclusion in Europe: access for people with disabilities People with disabilities and older citizens have difficulty accessing online services because of user interfaces requiring visual and auditory abilities as well as dexterity. The eEurope 2002 Action Plan began work toward the goal of better ICT accessibility; this work will continue under eEurope 2005. One target area is improving employability and social inclusion.

See also: Voices of Older People from Tanzania

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Participation

[the website of the Informal Working Group on Participatory Approaches & Methods to Support Sustainable Livelihoods & Food Security of the FAO] aims to capitalize on FAO's normative and field experiences with participatory approaches and methods and to provide an interactive learning forum to share and exchange resources, knowledge and information on participation in development.

FAO is evaluating this website, to assess its strengths and weaknesses in order to improve the currently available services.

Click here to complete the questionnaire and send to IWG-PA-Webbox@fao.org by July 31, 2003.

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TECHNOLOGY and TRAINING

6. The Ever-Shifting Internet Population: A new look at Internet access and the digital divide
56% of non-Internet users say they do not think they will ever go online. These people tend to be poor, elderly, white, female, retired, and/or living in rural areas. Reasons cited include misunderstanding of what is offered online, perceived lack of skill (27% say the Internet is too complicated), specific fears (i.e., about pornography or fraud), or obstacles (i.e., cost).

7. ElderWeb - North America
ElderWeb is a 9-year-old community of older computer users who consult each other in the event of technology-related questions or problems. The service is intended to supplement face-to-face technology training courses. ElderWeb's key strategy is connecting users to each other through the ElderWeb site. Members automatically become students at Grant MacEwan College (Alberta, Canada) and, as such, are entitled to purchase computer software at discounted prices.
Contact prbrown@elderweb.org

8. Training Course on Ageing in Africa - Aug 4-8 2003 - Nairobi, Kenya
For programme managers, social workers, government officers or planners, health care professionals, and those who have an interest in ageing. Topics to be covered include the demographic situation and socio-economic implications of ageing for Africa, HIV/AIDS and its impact on older people, gender dimensions of ageing, poverty, and related research and policies.

9. SeniorNet - United States, Sweden & Japan
Seniornet works to foster computer access on the part of people over the age of 50. It also provides education in an effort to enhance their lives and enable them to share wisdom. The group supports over 240 Learning Centers; publishes a quarterly newsletter and a variety of instructional materials; hosts a website; offers discounts on computer-related and other products and services; holds regional conferences; and collaborates in research. A central strategy is building on the skills of volunteers - members of SeniorNet's Technology Leadership Corps.
Contact annwrixon@seniornet.org

10. Digital Unite - United Kingdom
Digital Unite (formerly Hairnet) recruits, trains, and manages, older licensed trainers all over the UK, who work in their own postcode areas as self-employed individuals, selling their IT skills as trainers. Using these trainers, Digital Unite devises and implements one-on-one and small-group deskside IT training for organisations and individuals. Licensed trainers are co-ordinated by email, ongoing training opportunities, regular group meetings, and an electronic bulletin board.
Contact Gill Adams gill.adams@digitalunite.net

11. Using ICT to Empower Older Persons
Examines the role of ICT in relation to older people and their quality of life. According to the authors, "older people face huge challenges, particularly social exclusion, age discrimination in the work force, and poor access to social protection programs, health care, and opportunities to interact and generate income..." ICTs, they say, can remove barriers by expanding interactivity and opening opportunities for older people. However, the elderly - especially in developing countries - tend not to use the Internet due to lack of access, prohibitive costs, or issues of infrastructure.

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Pulse Poll

There is a contradiction between development by and for the most affected and international, large scale development initiatives.

Do you agree or disagree?

[For context, see Drum Beat 203.]

VOTE

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HIV/AIDS and INTERGENERATIONAL COMMUNICATION

12. Ageing, Poverty and AIDS
In sub-Saharan Africa 8 million children orphaned by AIDS are cared for by older relatives.

13. Elders Share the Arts (ESTA) - Brooklyn, NY, USA
ESTA is a community arts organisation dedicated to preserving and extending living cultural heritage through intergenerational communication. Elder artists working with ESTA attempt to bridge generational divides and generate a sense of community through live theatre performances, festivals, workshops, and book projects based on ESTA's work. The goal is to enable the young and old in New York's underserved communities to transform their life stories, through art, into dramatic, literary, and visual presentations that explore social issues, shed light on neighborhood history, and help arrive at answers to community issues and conflicts.
Contact esta@creativeaging.org

14. "Women's Voices, Women's Lives" Film Project - USA
The Connell School of Nursing at Boston College produced a film featuring local African American HIV-positive women drawing on their own experiences to warn younger women about the suffering associated with HIV/AIDS. These women from the Healing Our Community Collaborative (who first suggested the project and collaborated fully) speak candidly about what it is like to live with HIV. The project coordinator says, "There is a tradition in the African-American community of pulling the next generation along...It is very powerful to have someone who looks like you give you this message. It all works to create something meaningful and relevant."
Contact soninfo@bc.edu or rosanna.demarco@bc.edu

15. 16 articles were produced by the Population Studies Center (University of Michigan, United States) as part of a research project funded by the U.S. National Institute on Aging and conducted by a joint team of Thai and USA researchers. The project explores the impact of HIV/AIDS on older persons in Thailand whose adult children are infected with the HIV virus.

Here is a selected list of articles:

• AIDS and Older Persons: An International Perspective
• Knowledge and Attitudes of Older People about HIV/AIDS in Thailand: A Comparison with Young Adults
• The Impacts of HIV/AIDS on Older Populations in Developing Countries: Some Observations based upon the Thai Case

See also: Viim Kuunga Radio Project - Burkina Faso

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This issue written by Kier Olsen DeVries.

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The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.

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