2024 Community Eldercare Seminar: New Era of Digital Empowerment

With the rapid development of big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, digital technologies have gradually integrated with a wider range of social services and effectively improved service quality. It is important to consider how to enable older people to participate in the digital world and fully benefit from digital technology. From March 27 to 28, 2024, Professor Bai Xue, the Director of the Research Centre for Gerontology and Family Studies (RCGFS), was invited to participate in the 2024 Community Eldercare Seminar: New Era of Digital Empowerment, organized by the General Union of Neighbourhood Associations of Macau, to share and exchange ideas and practices on the digital empowerment of the older people with experts from Hong Kong, Macao, Mainland and Taiwan.                    

In recent years, RCGFS has been committed to the digital empowerment of older people through innovative practices and has successfully launched a number of service practice projects, effectively improving the information and communication technology (ICT) skills of older people. Professor Bai Xue presented two innovative theory-guided practical models for digital empowerment during the seminar: intergenerational-led approach and peer-led approach. The evaluation proved the effectiveness of these two models in improving digital literacy, attitude toward ICT, wellbeing and family and social relationships. The two models each have distinct advantages. The intergenerational-led approach can effectively foster intergenerational communication and cooperation as well as better intergenerational relationships, while the peer-led approach is more conducive to improving the learning efficiency and confidence of older people. Notably, RCGFS innovatively infused PERMA positive education elements into the ICT training for older people, which reduced the learning pressure, enhanced the quality of the learning experience, and eventually improved the overall wellbeing of older people.

The innovative digital empowerment models developed by RCGFS can help older people better understand and utilize basic digital skills, enabling them to gradually adapt to and embrace the involvement of smart technology in healthcare and eldercare. This can also provide implications for future research and service development related to smart care.

Link to TDM: https://www.tdm.com.mo/zh-hant/news-detail/946453?isvideo=false&lang=zh&category=all