Laura Yates Community Programmer

FACT

Working with Older People

• We have a long history of working with older people using digital creativity – since 1999 in fact!

• Our processes depend on our groups and partners - we use story-telling, artists workshops, exhibitions, visits, debates, etc to engage with older people.

• The world is changing rapidly and many services will soon be exclusively available only online. Statistics show that 60% of people over 60 have never used the internet.

Can you Hear Me? I Can See You!

• Our most recent project was with 7 Your Housing Sheltered Schemes, an artist collective and what we call ‘an artist facilitator’

• The project engaged with 40 older people plus many more staff, other residents and family members.

• Using ipad as a medium we explored the world of the internet over 7 months through creative learning sessions and arts-based interactions.

What we did. • We ran 35 sessions with 7

sheltered housing schemes over 7 months.

• Each session was designed to combat a new area of learning or build on existing skill – for example Skype Bingo

• 40 Core Residents where engaged plus another 40-50 family, staff and other residents.

• We held a celebration exhibition and event at FACT to present our work to members of the general public and stakeholders.

• We approached the Baring Foundation to apply for their older people’s digital inclusion grant.

• We worked in partnership with Your Housing to strengthen the bid and agree on activity, in-kind and match funded support

Engaging and Maintaining

• Engaging with the 40 core residents was time consuming, consistency is very important to older people.

• Sessions started with cups of tea and where informal which aided in the engagement process – a sort of ipad coffee morning model

• Using ipad’s was great – they are intuitive, visual and break down all the barriers of keyboard, mouse and screen.

• Scheme managers where really on-side and that helped massively with keeping residents engaged.

Challenges

• We attended each scheme 3 times per month which was the minimum we felt to maintain contact. The geographic location of the schemes posed a challenge for staff.

• Half of the residents bought ipads which was great! This was an issue for those who couldn’t afford though – ipad suites (or tablets) in schemes or one in a main area secured could work.

Bringing to a close

We had a big celebration event in FACT, Liverpool to close the project which was important for a sense of closure for the Older People.It was widely felt by the groups that continuing this kind of social learning around digital inclusion would be positive for both residents and staff – bringing different people into the scheme and new experiences improves feelings of wellbeing and isolation.

Some Statistics

• 45% of the core resident group purchased their own ipads and started using what they’d learnt in their classes to communicate with their families and utility companies.

• 90% of core resident group said they felt learning about the internet and technologies in this way helped them to get to grips with it more effectively.

• 30% of residents involved over 95 the rest aged between 55-90.

Some Quotes

• As a result of the project I’ve bought myself an ipad! • If more older people got involved with learning about

using things like ipad it would help with feeling like your slowing down its good to keep your brain active. Its not good to get set in your ways.

• We’ve learned to do something different using an ipad, I’ve never used one before.

• We’ve been learning things we’d never have known about. It gives you a new perspective on life and a new way of communicating with people.

Filmshttp://www.fact.co.uk/projects/can-you-hear-me-i-can-see-

you!/