Aging & Social Change: Ninth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

The aim of active aging is to promote health, participation, and security in order to remain as independent as possible for the longest period of time (EC,2018; WHO, 2002). Researches over past decades indicated that social support is one of the powerful factors influence well-being of elderly. However, the number of older adults living apart from their families and friends has been increasing due to economic and social change. Subsequently, motivation and participation in social activities as well as social support may be decreased. With advanced technology, social media may overcome this problem and provide new possibilities for elderly to engage in social contact, in conjunction with providing and receiving social support. My research aims to examine the role of a social support as a part of mechanism to promote active aging, particularly in the training context. The key character of social support mainly involves behaviors exchange. Types of supportive behavior are in varies forms, such as instrumental aid, expression and emotional concern, or the provision of advice or guidance (Dykstra, 2015; House, 1981). In this study, we propose the use of social media application (group chat) as a form of support group to facilitate social interactions among participants. The outcomes are evaluated one month after attending a market and e-commerce training course.