The HOW² Aged to Perfection programme was developed in August 2024. As this programme has progressed there has been a notable increase in the number of the participants across different activities. Our aim is to engage seniors to participate in our activities, creating new connections and developing new skills. Initially, this proved to be challenging due to limited engagement and transportation barriers at first. However, at present, there are activities where the participants are relying on using public transportation to attend.
We developed a survey to gather feedback and identify areas for improvement in our program. The collected data indicates that many participants live with family members, but they still experienced frequent social isolation. The factors contributing to their isolation are absence of family members, language barriers, limited mobility, health issues, limited transportation, fear of life problems, technology challenges, loss of loved ones, low confidence, timing of events, finance and attitude.
However, isolation is not a barrier for all people that had been interviewed, we have a great example of a retired teacher who dedicated 60 years of her life in tutoring in different places, and she spent most of her time learning French language. She is currently in her 80s and is actively participating in a range of activities including book clubs, going to the cinema and theatre, ballet club and dancing, and continuing to learn French. This shows that older people can continue living full lives and enjoy their favourite activities when they have the right support and easy access to resources, without needing to search for them. If these resources are opened to everyone, and effectively promoted within the community, more seniors will be encouraged and empowered to take part.
In summary, we are doing our best to support older people, helping them feel less alone and more active by showing their skills and abilities. Our efforts focus on developing new programs and identifying existing community resources through collaboration with several organisations, ensuring that seniors have meaningful opportunities to engage and contribute within the community.
