Elderly Considerations
Pokemon Go and the Well-being of Older Adults: A Case Study in Hong Kong
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ka Yi Fung, Dr. Gina Lai
Studies on ageing and video games have largely employed quantitative data collected from the elderly living in institutionalized homes. This study adopts observational data collected from a group of aging adults living in the community and examines the process in which video gaming affects the well-being of older adults living in a working-class neighborhood in Hong Kong. Participant observation was conducted of a group of seven older adults aged between forty and seventies who have been playing PokemonGo (PKMG), a popular mobile device game, since October 2016. These older adults are mostly not active members in the labor market due to retirement or family reasons. Most of them live with their spouses and adult children except one man who lives with his elderly parents and younger brother. Although they have lived in the neighborhood for more than twenty years, they are loosely integrated in the community. They have limited ties with their neighbors and do not participate in any community activity. Findings show that PKMG contributes to the physical, psychological, and social well-being of these older adults in three ways. First, PKMG requires players to physically travel in the real world to collect Pokemons. The design of the game thus encourages players to do a lot of walking, that helps lower the informants’ blood pressure and cholesterol level. Second, players of the game can win different medals after completing certain tasks or meeting certain targets. This gives the informants a sense of accomplishment and boosts their self-esteem. Completing the tasks also becomes a daily routine for them and that provides them with a sense of purpose in their everyday life. Third, the English game instructions pose a language challenge for our informants whose native language is Chinese and who have received only basic education. This motivates them to seek help from other players in the proximity, forging interpersonal relationships with strangers in the community. As they play the game and meet each other almost everyday, a relatively stable network is formed. Membership in the network gives our informants not only access to social support, but also a sense of belonging and identity. Implications of the findings will be discussed.
Is an Elderly Club a Creative Space or Compulsory Service? : Activity Participation in an Elderly Club
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Thanyaporn Chantaravech
The elderly club is implemented as a space to uncover the best in older people. Its main approach is to apply a variety of participation activities, prepared by relevant organizations, for the elderly. Even though such activities are highly promoted, it is revealed that the elderly, depending on whether they are a club member or non-member, receive more or less attention and tend to participate or not participate in club activities.Thus, this work reflects the elderly’s perspectives toward such situations by analyzing the capacity development of elderly club activities and members with a case study of Bangsrithong sub-district’s elderly club in Nonthaburi province. The analysis is based on the concepts of public space, collective consciousness, and elderly lifestyle in which the older persons, community leaders, volunteers, and local administrative organization’s officers are informants. It is found that elderly who are young-old and healthy will decide to apply for a membership and join club activities until they become sick or face an unpleasant health situation in their family (e.g. the elderly becomes ill or bed-ridden, the elderly needs to take care of other family member who has sickness, they will no longer participate). Whereas some persons choose not to renew membership because they think that the elderly club is only for the people who are healthy and ready. However, the relationship with people and the area are reasons that encourage the elderly living within the area in attending activities, as they are pleased to continue good relationships, rather than the one who lives in housing estates or who has just moved in. One perspective expresses that healthy elderly do not need to join elderly club activities since they have other options, for example becoming volunteers, doing activities that are of interest to them. On the other hand, another viewpoint considering that the elderly club is a political matter and benefit-related issue rather than viewing that its activities would lead to capability development, is an important obstacle. It means that if the benefits are not worth participating as well as the elderly are still healthy, they will choose the other activities they are interested. Also, it is believed that housework and childrearing tasks can maintain activeness. These findings suggest that the eldery clubs are used by people to create their lives rather than for receiving services. Currently, beyond the area where the service is provided, the club space needs to become the valued area for group participation. It involves a sense of community which the relationship among generations can make the elderly’s life activities become more valued and meaningful. Adding liveliness to club activities using the power of elderly is the establishment of creative space that the best capability of people can be actually revealed.
Educational Tourism Experiences and Well-being of Older Travellers
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Lintje Sie
Studies have shown that educational and cultural touristic experiences are now the preferred options for many older travellers. This is because they offer individuals greater opportunities to discover and be meaningfully engaged in activities, while gaining skills and knowledge that serve to enrich their broader life experiences. This study explores the relationship between older educational traveller’s motivations, the experiences that they seek, the perceived benefits derived from the educational travel experience, and life satisfaction in an integrated model. It is expected that the findings drawn from this study will contribute to the development of a conceptual model of successful aging which more fully acknowledges the significant impact of educational tourist experiences on the both hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing of older travellers. It is also expected that the study will serve to provide new insights for tourism operators into facilitating, improving, and enriching their current travel offerings for this growing market segment.
