A survey of seniors in Belgium, Poland and Switzerland shows that no less than 90% of the seniors are digitally active. We were pleasantly surprised when it turned out that the Flemish seniors didn’t miss the digital boat: only 2% of them indicated little experience with computers, tablets or smartphones, while in the global survey this came to 10%. Also concerning digital platforms it turned out that our seniors had more knowledge than the Swiss and Polish seniors (80% vs. 59% in the total survey). Furthermore, it is also clear that more than 76% of the participants in the study are not only willing, but really enthusiastic and is asking to share their knowledge and life experiences.
“In the past, my active contribution to society and sharing my knowledge was self-evident. As a pensioner, you almost have to fight to get a say, to get your vote.” say participants in the survey. “Society is not very appreciative towards seniors at the moment their professional career comes to an end. The last few years in the workplace, seniors feel written off or pushed away several times.”
This ‘ pushing towards the exit’ is very unfortunate because most seniors are highly skilled individuals with numerous skills and life experiences. The interviewer himself also indicates that at the age of 63 he especially heard: ” ‘When are you retiring? Are you still working? This isn’t for you anymore, is it?’ The contribution to the professional activities is thus pushed aside and that is certainly a pity harbinger of what also partly happens when one retires.”
With CREATE, a future European digital platform and large-scale research project, Neos and its European partners want to change that and give older people the opportunity to share their unique wisdom, not only with peers, but also with future generations, young people and children.
Especially their life experiences, values and testimonies of historical events were recognized from the research project as a great source of knowledge. On the platform, seniors will not only get a social forum, but they will also receive the necessary technical and social support to make their unique experiences, knowledge and insights known in a user-friendly way to the whole society.
“A platform like CREATE is invaluable!” emphasizes Neos director Martin De Loose. “Not only for seniors, who clearly indicate this for personal satisfaction and social interaction, but also for the next generations and the wider society. We must not let the wealth of knowledge and life experience of our seniors go to waste. By sharing the past creating the future together, that is the mission of CREATE and as a committed seniors association we are very proud that we can participate in this.”
For more information or a reaction, please contact
Martin De Loose, Director of Neos vzw, martin.deloose@neosvzw.be, 0494 94 74 86