Our Greek member organisation People Behind has published a 30-minute documentary on the digital experience of older people in Greece and their right for equal access and participation in the digital world.
In the documentary “Hug 65+”, Ourania, Penelope, Tasos, Xanthippi, Angeliki and Thodoris, 65+ residents of Athens and Patras, talk honestly and with humor about their experiences with computers and how the digitisation of almost all services has changed their lives. Next to those testimonies, representatives of 6 organisations working with older people discuss the role of the state in ensuring the access of people over 65 to digital technology.
In Greece, 2% of people over 65 have above-average digital skills, 78% of them have never used a computer. Above the age of 55, education is provided by non-profit organisations and municipalities, points out Maria Asteriou, co-founder of People Behind. A provision that is more limited, fragmentary, difficult to sustain, and mainly dependent on good will of organizers and trainers. Yet, digital skill learning has multiple benefit for older people. It improves their cognitive skills, their memory, their information processing speed, but above all it makes them feel independent and less lonely. It also affects families, relatives and caregivers.
The Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA), signed by the Greek government in 2018, aims at the social protection of older people, acknowledges that the only way to tackle demographic ageing is to take measure for the well-being of older people and to promote active and healthy ageing, as reminds Ms. Asteriou. Although the MIPAA was signed by the Greek government in 2018, a National Action Plan on Ageing has not yet been implemented.
The documentary “Hug 65+” is available in 2 versions, one with Greek and one with English subtitles, on People Behind’s YouTube channel.
