Moving forward with the matured-aged community-USR in the pandemic

“Aging in place” is the prevalent global policy for elderly care. It helps maintain the individual’s dignity during the aging process and also alleviate the resource depletion problems prompted by the rapid aging of Taiwan's population. Individual autonomy in responding to the challenges of aging is the critical psychological basis that needs to be established in the aging-in-place policy. Therefore, the Metropolitan Taiwan Barbet Project of Soochow University focuses on the development of autonomy in senior middle-aged community residents.

But, with the global outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in January, many planned projects and activities were forced to be canceled. Importantly, the targeted participants of this project (i.e., the senior middle-aged) are susceptible to a higher risk for the disease, resulting in their decreased frequencies of activity participation. Social distancing also incurs considerable limitations for activities or events. How does the Barbet Project continue to move on along with the community?

Persistence despite the pandemic and distancing

" Social distancing" is the principle of safety under the epidemic. Therefore, the planned community sports course by the project also decided to be suspended, in protecting the safety of participants. However, the epidemic caused the cancellation of activities of all parties, but our team was hoped to help the senior middle-aged residents in maintaining their exercise habits. After the plan was discussed, we decided to continue the exercise class through online video, and the possibility of the promotion of community distance exercise courses could also be evaluated. This decision immediately faced many doubts: teachers were good at teaching in face-to-face and worried about efficiency in teaching the residents through a small LED screen; the senior middle-aged participants were worried about the use of the electronic equipment and personal information leakage; the course assistants were also wondered about the learning and troubleshooting of the remote mode of senior middle-aged people. But if the epidemic continues, how to continue all the activities? After collecting all the doubts, our team bravely tried to make the change. In the beginning, the preparation courses video equipment, selection and arrangement of the site, selection of the software, briefing to the community about the SOP in joining the course, the team puts lots of efforts to overcome all the problems. During the course going on, the teams keep observed the situations during the course and making the adjustment after each course, to provide the community participants the best experience of the exercise course. 12 weeks of community exercise classes, become the growth journey of the teacher, teaching assistant courses, community ripe age of participants, and the project team. Teachers adjust her teaching mode to allow matured-aged people in keeping up with course content, classroom assistants have the chance to communicate with the matured-aged participants, and widen his experience knowledge about the passion for learning of the participants. More importantly, the community residents not only were having a good experience in online-course learning during this epidemic during the situation in which most of the community activities are closed but also experience the added value of university resources to their elderly life and the warmth of the Ministry of Education's social practice plan.

Having a balanced diet in the pandemic!

The epidemic has caused on-site dining restrictions for catering and the public's consideration of food hygiene. Our team started to think about the combination of the community buffet restaurant in promoting the balanced nutrition lunch box. On the other hand, a packed lunch during this epidemic is a great demand of the people, Besides, the lunch box design can be combined with the scientific view of behavior intervention diet decisions. Thus, our team having cooperation with community nutrition centers, dieticians design balanced dishes, and pick the right meal to highlight the diversity within a balanced lunch meal content.

Assistant Sun from the Department of Microbiology went to the Beitou restaurant 2-3 times each week in promoting the lunch box. In the beginning, she was always being rejected before finished her speaking and our team started to worried about this plan would affect the restaurant's business. Fortunately, "familiarity" is a positive value in community life. Customers gradually become acquainted with her, and they started to accept the concept of balanced lunch. The restaurant owner stated that during the promotion, the lunch box delivery platform of their restaurant often gets a five stars rating, After the end of the plan, there are still customers asking for balanced nutrition lunch. So even if the cooperation project ends, they will continue to sell them to customers in a balanced lunch model designed by nutritionists. Along with the activity, director Lee of the department of microbiology also visited the restaurant, discussing the meals program in food safety issues, and invite the owner to share the importance of food safety regulations in the food and beverage industry.

The smile under the mask

"Hi, nice to meet you." This is the common feeling which comes into the students' minds, and also their heartfelt feelings to the elderly people they met before.

Teachers Zeng of the Department of Psychology leading the students of the course "behavior change techniques" back into the community, help them in developing their personal behavior change plans. In beginning, the students were worried in contact with the community senior middle-aged residents, their minds filled with worry of being rejected. Fortunately, these thoughts were swept away after the first contact with the elderly. During the interacting process, students can observe from the elders not only the experience of living, more still for the full of desire and pursuit of their future life, and this is the actual witness to " live and learn" in appearance. For example, an elderly resident was sent to the hospital during the activities. The students had thought would hear a lot about the negative feelings of the disease, but there were not too many complaints, but the elder is still looking forward to the planning and arrangements after leaving the sickbay. As a result, the students had lots of reflection and readjusted their understanding of aging. When different life stories communicate in the curriculum activities, the teachers and students increasingly aware that their interaction with the community elders has already gone beyond the original curriculum for the training of professional help. So that different generations have an in-depth understanding of each other and a mutual understanding of opportunities. In the nutshell, during the process of giving a bit of care, the psychology students are realized the original intention- in the process of altruism and helping others, find yourself with warmth.

The call under the silver light

Nowadays, lots of matured-aged community residents, which has a great working ability and social experience, unwilling to accept the label from the society about their age, but still want to continue their life in different ways. Therefore, our plan organized the use of university curriculum and program resources to assist community model figure in incubating their mission and ideal, and then build links for senior middle-aged residents and residential communities.