Talking about burden of caring Dementia patients

There was meaningful conference to talk and understand burden and affection about caring of Dementia patients in their family on November 28. It was the 3rd conference. In this time we tried to make social consensus how we should work together and systemically in our community with dementia in aging society. To find early signs of dementia and to catch of right diagnosis were the most precious things for families in early step.

Social drama team of RISBLE also showed a great affection and sympathy with dementia family and patient in this time. All we were spent a momentous time with lots thoughts and value. Every end of year we have had conference for supporting family, we hope it was helpful to understand what we should do with waring signs of Dementia. We again appreciated all participants and Busan government.

Opening of New Wellageing Center

We extended our IT education center to found local culture network through lifelong education. IBM supported computers setting for wellageing center. The Wellageing Center held the opening ceremony on October 18, Thursday, to celebrate the expansion of IT education centers. Many special guests including the Mayor of Nam-gu as well as the elderly participated in the event to see the progress report of Wellageing Centers and wish for the continuing development of Digital Aging through Wellageing Centers. Again we are deeply appreciated our all heart to IBM.

On-line Discussion for Three Generations

We hold “On-line Discussion for Three Generations” on a monthly basis to help close the generational gasp and lead the sound discussion culture finding the solution for various social issues. The selected topic embraces the broad point of views among three generations and participants ranging from the elderly to the adolescents join the discussion by posting their opinion on the online board at the homepage, http://www.wellageing.com/.

What's Active Ageing

Research Institute of Science for the Better Living of the Elderly has been promoting Active Ageing throughout the world. The following is the introduction of the concept of Active Ageing. We sincerely hope it may help you understand the meaning and the core value of the concept, so that the Active Ageing can also spread in your community.

Active Aging

The ageing society has emerged as one of the most urgent issues in the 21st Century, increasingly becoming the important agenda for the world leaders to solve. Korea is not exempt from the worldwide mainstream, and it has exerted multi-faceted efforts to establish the regulations to prepare itself for the daunting challenge brought by the rapid ageing process. The main focus in dealing with the problems such as support, leisure, and medical aids for the elderly has primarily linked the problems with the elderly. Many countries have tried to resolve the elderly problems in social perspectives, holding the state or the institution solely responsible for tackling with what should be presumed as a more complex issue. The world slowly realized that the elderly problems cannot be resolved by one body alone, and that the task force should be based on the active attitude of the elderly themselves to aggressively resolve the problems.
Active Aging combines the concept of productive ageing and successful ageing, drawing the participation from the elderly to actively lead their old life. It does not concern with the Anti-Ageing concept, which represents physical wellbeing or body image, but the inclusive approach to empower the elderly to lead active old life, so that they can contribute to the society, not as a social burden, but social capital for their community and country. It also focuses on the age-friendly environment to help the elderly maintain their health and lead more convenient life by the technological benefit.
The detailed guideline was mentioned during the Third Active Aging Conference in Asia Pacific in Namhae, 2007, and the declaration of Namhae Active Ageing was adopted. Active Ageing has been superficially concerned with Anti-Ageing, but the concept proposed by the Active Ageing Network is to empower the elderly to maintain their psychological, physical, substantial, emotional, mental health. In summary, it encourages the elderly, who previously remained secluded or isolated from society, to continually participate in the society as an active member and social resource with rich experience and knowledge. It also helps them to maintain their physical wellbeing in local community, and offers the substantial environments so that the elderly can feel comfortable moving in the area. And it tries to build the age-friendly city which optimizes the quality of life for not only the elderly, but also the whole community. Finally, the emotional approach to change the society where the elderly is no longer abused or neglected, but encouraged to live healthy and active life with the spread of social filial piety, will be the key to promoting Active Ageing life.

MOU Agreement with Busan Techno Park

Dr. Donghee Han (Director, Research Institute of Science for the Better Living of the Elderly) agreed upon MOU with Mr. Jung Dongkeun (Director, Center for Supporting Age-friendly Industrialization of Busan Techno Park) to develop an innovative vision for aged society and work for the success of the age-friendly industry.
Both institutes will cooperate on research, idea exchange, and the negotiation of the issues involved with Ageing in Busan. It is expected to contribute to the quality of life for old persons.

○ Date : June, 25th (Mon) 11:00a.m., 2007

○ Place : Meeting Room at the Center for Supporting Age-friendly Industrialization of Busan Techno Park

The Second World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD)

Korea Information Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (KINPEA) held the 2nd World Elder Abuse Awareness Day Anniversary on June 11, Monday, 2007, following the first event in 2006. The second event was held from 10:00a.m. to 6:00p.m. on the 12th floor of the Busan Metropolitan City Hall. There were 300 participants, including many counselors and professionals from the Elder Abuse centers nationwide as well as the elders along with their family.
Particularly, the special event to mark the purple color as the token of hope for the awareness on elder abuse to be brought to light from darkness was included in recognition of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
All participants tied purple handkerchiefs around their wrists and shouted the slogan, “Moving Forward” right before the declaration of Human Rights for the Elderly, and let their handkerchiefs remain worn until the end of ceremony as the sign for the ‘Purple Movement.’
Ms. Alrene Groh, Elder Abuse Restorative Justice Resource Consultant for the Elder Abuse Response Team, presented the examples of many inevitable family conflicts caused by elder abuse and suggested restorative justice as the alternative solution. In the following session, the discussion and Q&A session followed to offer a valuable opportunity for professionals from both Korea and Canada. After the event, we received the letter of gratitude from the mayor of Kitchener, the mayor of Waterloo, and the Waterloo Regional Police. We thank them all for their kind acknowledgement. Also, we’d like to extend our sincere gratitude to Ms. Alrene Groh, for her kind cooperation as well as strong effort, and we look forward to continued exchanges and cooperation to build the society free of elder abuse.

Also, the director of the institute, Dr. Donghee Han, participated in the WEAAD 2007 “Pre-Event” Global Symposium: "Exchanges on Achievements and Future Strategies." at WHO, Geneva, from June 14-15, 2007. It was time of much worth and importance as she presented Korea’s elder abuse and human right advocacy movement to the international representatives and she established strong network with them. We promise to continue to exert our utmost to raise international awareness on elder abuse and move forward in search of the ultimate solution.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day to be Held on June, 11

The event to mark the Second World Elder Abuse Awareness Day will be held on 11th of June in Busan, Korea. This is the second event following the first Korea World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June, 15, 2006. This year’s theme of the Second World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is “Moving Forward.” The event will include the celebration of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day and the workshop in the Busan Metropolitan City Hall. Ms. Alren Groh, Elder Abuse Restorative Justice Resource Consultant for the Elder Abuse Response Team, will make presentation during the workshop with the title, “Restorative Justice Approach for the Elder Abuse.” Restorative Approach offers the solution of elder abuse that is the closest to Korean culture and customs, and it can be applied to other family problems such as family violence or conflicts. It also aims to find practical solution to elder abuse around the world, bringing the victims, the wrongdoer, and their communities together for collaborative harmony. We also hope the event will help raise awareness across the countries.

We’re Family - 1080 Game Festival

To promote close relationship between the first generation and the third generation, we’re planning to hold the event called ‘We’re Family – 1080 Game Festival’ on May 26, Saturday. The event is divided into two sections; online and off - line activities. The online game is planned to introduce the current game trend of teenagers to the older adults and improve positive relationship among the adolescents and the elderly. On the other hand, the off - line game will give the chance for the adolescents to understand traditional playing culture through off - line activities. We hope the event will help promote deeper understanding of each other, offering both time and space for mutual communication between them.
It is also a movement to destroy the prejudice of older persons and deliver information culture for the elderly. One of the participants posted her story on the web, saying,
“It is funny that young generation can’t take part in the on-line game festival without their grandparents.” It’s our cordial wish that the event will provide valuable moment for all the participants, combining both young and old to produce good harmony.

The End of 2007 Namhae Active Aging Conference in Asia Pacific

The Third Active Aging Conference in Asia Pacific has reached its successful closure and we would like to extend our cordial gratitude to all who participated in 2007 Namhae Active Aging Conference in Asia Pacific. Without your strong support and kind cooperation, the conference could not have turned out to be as fruitful as it is. We also highly appreciate hard effort of those who had diligently worked for the success of the event. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the institute, and we therefore consider the conference to be full of valuable meaning. We are not planning to hold a big ceremony to congratulate our 10th anniversary, but we do plan to work on several projects for the betterment of the elderly and their communities. We already have published books with the title ‘Cyber Family’ and held the Third Active Aging Conference in Asia Pacific. The current future plan includes ‘We’re Family - 1080 Game Festival’, ‘The Second World Elder Abuse Awareness Day in Korea’, and ‘the 2nd World Elder Abuse Awareness Day in Geneva.’ We hope to extend our work for improving the quality of life for the elderly and their communities as we mark the 10th anniversary of our institute, and sincerely wish the best for all who have exhibited their keen interest in Active Aging. Thank you.

2007 Namhae Active Ageing Conference in Asia Pacific

2007 Namhae Active Ageing Conference in Asia Pacific will be held from May 16 to 18, this week. The institute has worked in cooperation with the administration of Namhae and many other organizations. Also, a number of national and international professionals in gerontology have showed us their strong support and hard effort for the successful conference, which has spurred us to work even harder. Without the support and interest from all of you, we would not have been able to come this far. We’d like to extend our sincere gratitude to every one of you and cordially look forward to seeing you in Namhae with all of our heart. Thank you.

Centenarian in Namhae

This is the picture of an elderly woman whose age is 100 and currently living in the longevity region of Namhae. The four generations are living together in her house and she still maintains her grace at her age. Her 100th anniversary passed just a month ago and we congratulated her birthday. We sincerely hope many elders will live a healthy and active life in old age and work together for active ageing. From her smile, we can feel “getting older is not just bad.”

Shanghai Government Representatives’ Visit

The representatives from Civil Bureau of Shanghai Government visited the Research Institute of Science for the Better Living of the Elderly in Busan, Korea to discuss the common solution to elderly problems in both Korea and China.Also, it offered a valuable opportunity to share the vision for the 2008 Fourth Active Aging Conference in Asia Pacific.

Cyber Family’s Off-line Meeting

The Cyber Family (Busan Keonguk Middle School, Japan Osaka Keonguk Middle School, and Elderly Participants) exchange program was conducted on March, 19, 2007. This gave Cyber Family a chance to meet their long-cherished members again after the offline festival last year. We hope Cyber Family will continue their good harmony via the internet no matter how far they are as they became a virtual family.

Seventeens and Seventies “We feel no Generational Gap”

On / off-line Meeting through Cyber Family Program by the Research Institute of Science for the Better Living of the Elderly
The warm conversation between adolescents and the elderly…now made into the book

[Pusanilbo 2007. 02.15]

Is an honest talk between grandpa in seventies and a boy in seventeen possible? For grandpa, a boy may seem fussy. As for a boy, grandpa may seem fusty.

However, the real problem has always been the bias. That’s why the program turned out to be effective. The program was conducted by the Research Institute of Science for the Better Living of the Elderly. The whole result was compiled in the book called ‘사이버 가족 Cyber Family’. It is rather a compiling report of the past 10 years since the establishment of the institute.

The book doesn’t have one specific figure. It is a book without heroes. Instead of heroes, there are a number of pictures and talks. In the pictures, many elderly and children appear. They had an open talk, as if they were playing at a tug of war or three-legged race to overcome the generational gap.

“I want to raise my hand and ask the teacher a question, but I have no courage to do so as I’m not very good at studying. I don’t want to be seen, by my friends, as bothering the class. I know I have to do something to change my personality, but I simply can’t.”

“Why don’t you try raising your question loudly? The beginning is always difficult, but once you get used to it, you’ll be better at it.”

“Well, I understand raising a question is not easy. Why don’t you send an e-mail to your teacher? Your curiosity on something proves that you have interest in the study. Also, don’t underestimate your fine personality.”

These are the posted articles in the Chapter 2 and Chapter 5 . First, the adolescent posted their questions and then the elderly wrote their answers. The talk was not awkward. Rather, it appears more familiar than the one between friends of the same age. The problem was not generational gap.

The Chapter 7 attracted our attention for the same reason.
“Studying is my biggest trouble. And I started to feel annoyed at nagging of my parents. I feel like I’m becoming an adolescent. I want to go out of my house. I don’t know if my parents are aware of this.”

“You feel probably bad about your parents since they don’t express their care but only nag you out. Then, imagine that you’re a father and what would you do with your children. Can you think of different ways to treat them? I think your parents are concerned about the fact that if you lose the time to study right now, you’ll have rare chance to do it again. That is because of the love of your parents to you.”

The grade and lose of self-confidence is the common topic for the adolescent. Therefore, the topic tends to be quite serious. However, it doesn’t mean that the talk also has to be weighed down. With a simple phrase of “I understand you,” the gate of the talk was opened. The Chapter 31 and the Chapter 35 contains this issue.

“I’ve studied early in the morning, but my grades don’t improve. What should I do?”

“I guess you feel quite a burden. I’ve seen some people who were weak in an actual test. However, the effort is never in vain as long as there’s a certain goal.”

“Hypnotize yourself. There are not always good things in the world. “Murphy’s law’ is much more powerful than ‘Sally’s law’. I’d like to tell you that if you can’t avoid it, then enjoy it.”

The talk doesn’t always need a special topic. There are some articles that share the remembrance and experiences in the Chapter 6 .
“I was surprised to hear that an azalea is edible. I tried some and the taste was sweet though a bit strange.”
“You haven’t tried an azalea until now? When I was a girl like you, I used to play with my friends a ‘flower game’ and ate an azalea so much that both of my lips became blue. We called an edible plant as a real flower and inedible as a dog flower.”

The talk goes beyond the national boundaries. In the Chapter 42 and Chapter 44 , there are cyber talks between the students in Osaka, Japan and the elderly in Korea.
“Dear grandpa and grandma in Korea. I feel like we’re much closer through talking on the Internet. I can’t go to Korea often, but I’m really happy to meet our Cyber Family any time through the internet.”

Any tangled yarn can be raveled smoothly with time. The conversation was just like that. It was the exit to the blocked world without communication. Whenever the adolescents expressed their troubles and the elderly posted their answer. The answer was more like sympathy than an advice, but what was needed to overcome the generational gap was ‘not an advice, but sympathy’.

‘Cyber Family (www.wellageing.com) Program began back in 2004. It was designed to destroy the negative prejudice of the relationship between the adolescents and the elderly. Anyone can post their articles and answers, but six schools decided to ‘stay as a virtual member.’ These include Gamman and Manduk Middle School in Busan, Gohyun Middle school in Gyeongnam, Pogok Middle School in Gyeonggi, Hwasan Middle School in Jeonnam, Japan Osaka Keonguk Middle School and the Busan branch of the National Health Insurance Corporation. They had an off-line festival when they first met face to face beyond the internet. The clue of the conversation was closer than our thoughts.
Hyunchoong Paek choong@busanilbo.com

2007 Namhae ACAP Logo Concept

The logo symbolizes the Namhae Grand Bridge to depict the active aging of Namhae people.

The blue suspension line begins from the figure of an old couple and connects island to island, province to province, and nation to nation.

The green color portrays the vibrant nature of Namhae and the red color represents the vitality of active aging

In summary, the design embraces the nature, people, and the symbol of Namhae(the Grand Bridge) in a holistic harmony.

Cyber Family Book

We are more than happy to announce the publication of the Cyber Family Book in Korea. The Book includes all the materials posted on the website at http://www.wellageing.com/. The Cyber Family Program is regarded as a great contributor to the intergeneration of the adolescents and the seniors.
This book is available in Korean version. The following is the description of the book.

Cyber Family is a practical program for intergeneration as a new family model in the digital era.
It has encouraged the seniors who have lived through analogue era to extend their love and warmth to the adolescents in the digital era who have had no experience of such feelings.
In the Cyber Family Space (www.wellageing.com), there is a strong sympathy on the chaotic identity between the adolescents and the seniors. It has changed both the negative prejudice of the seniors through various activities of the elderly and the adolescents, helping them to overcome their weaknesses and inner chaos through continuous love and caring support from the seniors.
Cyber Family went offline in July, 2006 and it gave a chance to face-to-face interaction whose impact and love still flows online today. The model was favorably received not only in Korea, but also by the SeniorNet in the US, the Active Aging Network in the US as well as in Japan, China and Korea.
The participating schools and organizations include;
1. Pogok Middle School
2. Hwasan Middle School
3. Gohyun Middle school
4. Gamman Middle School
5. Manduk Middle School
6. Japan Osaka Keonguk Middle School
7. Busan Branch of the National Health Insurance Corporation
8. Senior Members of Wellageing

It took a great deal of not only our own effort, but also our network that supported us more than we expected. We sincerely thank every one who participated in the program and would like to acknowledge their strong encouragement. Thank you so much and let us make wellageing worldwide!

Elder Abuse Content Development

The Research Institute of Science for the Better Living of the Elderly has developed the contents on the Elder Abuse. This will provide the information on the elder abuse for those suffering from a disease and their family. The content is included in Doumnara Content operating under the Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion (KADO).

KADO, Doumnara Content Demonstration
[Digital Times 2006.October 31]
Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion (KADO) held a demonstration ceremony on the 30th of October. During the ceremony, KADO (CEO Yeonki-Son, www.kado.or.kr) demonstrated its Doumnara Content (www.itall.or.kr) development and pledged for the customer satisfaction.
The content includes; △ Leisure Culture △ Social Work Promotion-9 contents related to the challenged people, △ Elder Abuse △ Medical Encyclopedia △ Family-7 contents related to the elderly, and transportation system(Both) which account to 17 in total(new 5 contents, complementary 12 contents). Those contents will be available through Doumnara from the 6th of November.
During the “Customer Satisfaction Pledge,” 10 related organizations- namely the Korea Association for the Mentally Retarded (CEO Yeonchang-Bae) and Research Institute of Science for the Better Living of the Elderly (Director. Donghee Han) - joined the ceremony.
`Doumnara’ is a special portal site for the challenged and the elderly which was initiated in November, 2002 to provide practical information online freely without local, economical, physical limitation.
[Hwa Young Sim]

"Second World Elder Abuse Awareness Day"

International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse will hold the Second World Elder Abuse Awareness Day in Geneva, Switzerland. As the Korean Representative of the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, our institute will join the event by commemorating the day in cooperation with the Busan Metropolitan City on June 15.
The World Elder Abuse Awareness Day celebrated "The First World Elder Abuse Awareness Day" on June 15, 2006 at UN Headquarters, New York. The institute joined the event by holding the ceremony titled “My World, Your World, Our World- Free of Elder Abuse” on the same day at KT Building in Busan, Korea.

" The 100th anniversary of Alzheimer’s disease "

2007 marks the 100th anniversary of Alzheimer’s disease. Many works have been done to cure this disease, but it was not enough to support for those daunting number of the Baby Boom Generation.
International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics have issued the statement on Alzheimer’s disease to raise awareness on the issue as well as assess what have been done and have to be done in face of the aged society. In light of this movement, the Research Institute of Science for the Better Living of the Elderly will promote its Social Drama which describes the affect of dementia on the patient and her family caused by Alzheimer’s disease. 2007 is the turning point for our institute, too. The 2007 Namhae Active Aging Conference in Asia Pacific is to be held from May 16(Wed) to 18(Fri) and we’re happy to hold our conference at this important time.