During the first wave of COVID-19 in Belarus, as well as around the world, many people were isolated. First of all, this concerned older people who represent the main risk group.
Therefore along with other initiatives aimed at mitigating the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic in local communities through adult education the DVV International office in Belarus also supported the idea of an initiative group from Smorgon aimed at conducting online classes for older people. Smorgon Initiative
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The first event of the initiative was the online seminar "Foundations of Online Education for Seniors". It is aimed at professionals who work or plan to work with older people during the pandemic. Within the framework of the seminar specialists from Smorgon figured out how online training for older people differs from the usual face-to-face meeting format, how to adapt events for the online format and what tools are suitable for this target group.
5 people from among the participants of this training expressed their readiness to act as mentors in the online course "How to maintain good spirits and health in conditions of prolonged self-isolation" the main target group of which were older people living in Smorgon.
Previously a survey of potential participants on the subject of which topics are interesting to them and what online tools they can use was conducted (more than 50 older people took part in it).
The following topics were selected for training:
- "Secrets of Longevity"
- "Cooking our favorite recipes for ourselves"
- "How to deal with depression"
- "Online travel to the museums around the world"
- "Secrets of Floriculture".
Classes were conducted using the Zoom program. Some of the participants were online and some were watching the sessions recorded. Additionally the participants communicated and exchanged materials among themselves and with teachers through the Viber chats. A total of 32 people took part in the training.
How did this course benefit older people?
- made it easier for older people to accept self-isolation, it provided older people with new contacts and acquaintances;
- older people have mastered new tools or learned to use already familiar ones more confidently (Zoom, Viber, e-mail), which in general made the participants more confident users of IT technologies;
- it allowed to identify interest in the issue. The initiative turned out to be sustainable and caused a whole range of new ideas for its continuation expressed by both the participants and the experts themselves. The experts agreed that they will continue to work together in the future. For example, after the end of the initiative an additional cycle of further studies on the secrets of longevity was developed. It includes training in methods of self-regulation of emotional state, etc.
The initiative "How to maintain good spirits and health in conditions of prolonged self-isolation" was implemented jointly by the Representative Office of the German Adult Education Association in the Republic of Belarus and the public charitable association "Smorgon Initiative" within the framework of the project "Professionalization of Adult Education Centers in Europe/ country project Belarus".
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