Increasing the social participation of older rural residents: Opportunities offered by “OPTEACH”

Abstract

ProblemThe issues addressed in this article are two‐fold. Firstly, education about ageing is predominantly textbook‐based. Secondly, many rural older people face social isolation which impacts their health. In addressing the first issue, we discovered that our project, Older Persons Teaching and Empowering Aged Care Students (OPTEACH), has the potential to have a positive impact on the second issue.DesignWe run university education sessions involving older people. Since such sessions present unique challenges, we obtained a grant to develop resources to assist educators and support rural older people to become “OPTEACHers.”SettingOPTEACH was undertaken in several rural communities in New South Wales and included staff and residents at residential aged care facilities and community‐dwelling rural older people.Key measures for improvementOur previous work had highlighted a need for educator resources that would facilitate “ageing” being taught in a way that both involved and respected older people. Our ethos centres on the “co‐creation” of knowledge, and having older peoples' unique contributions recognised and celebrated.Strategies for changeResources to assist with planning and being involved in OPTEACH education sessions are available at www.opteach.com.au. They will support a growing community of “OPTEACHers,” with beneficial flow‐on effects for rural older people.Effects of changeWe seek to provide practical support to both educators and older people to provide “real life” education on the experience of ageing.Next stepsFurther evaluation is needed, yet we anticipate a positive impact on self‐esteem, community “connectedness” and quality of life for older rural “OPTEACHers” as the approach gains momentum.

Health (Dis)equalities and Social Isolation and Loneliness in the Older People: A Qualitative Study

“…However, there is a noticeable discrepancy in participation opportunities between the different parishes in the municipality, as participants living in more rural areas report a greater need for the municipality to adopt new measures. In addition, evidence shows that individuals aging in rural areas face challenges in terms of health and well-being RIAGE -Revista Ibero-Americana da Gerontologia -Número 5 | junho de 2024 (Hussain et al, 2023), as they are subject to geographic isolation, limited public transport and restricted community services and are therefore unable to participate and socialize in the community, negatively influencing social activity (Hughes et al, 2019;Jones et al, 2023).…”