The Turkish Ministry of Education recently started an initiative for high school students, named "Go easy with AGE" with the aim of supporting the memory, communication and motor skills of older people, for the purpose of inclusion. One of the high schools in İzmir was first to join the project and they started their process in collaboration with the Izmir Branch of Türkiye Alzheimer Derneği (Turkish Alzheimer's association). Within the scope of this study, volunteer students from the school met regularly with people living with dementia and during the meetings, young and old people chatted, painted together and carried out activities to improve visual memory.
When the COVID-19 lock-down for age 65+ (considered to be “at risk”) started, the Association had to cease activities, following which, some families reported that their relatives with dementia were getting very bored at home and that their discomfort progressed. Upon this, the project evolved into a digital activity and emerged with the title "Digital Grandchild". High school students in Izmir contacted the people with dementia with whom they had previously been meeting face-to-face on a weekly basis, via video and telephone calls, while they could not leave their homes, to maintain and increase the bond they had create. The people with dementia in question were very happy to speak to the young people via mobile telephone. The project name emerged from the fact that these volunteers became like their grandchildren, some even giving their “grandchildren” an affectionate kiss, on the screen.
While some of the young people were uneasy at first, after they witnessed the joy they were bringing, they were happier and more motivated to participate. The project is also beneficial for the young people involved, by contributing to the development of social responsibility awareness and as a reference for their academic careers.
During the course of their conversations, students also inform the older people they are in contact with about social media, and make videos explaining how to use technology. This method of communication, which started on in March 2020 with 11 students in İzmir and continued during the feast of Ramadan, has now become a normal part of life today, for those involved.
The success of the “Digital Grandchild” project has inspired plans to expand it to all regions of Turkey and even to Turkish people living abroad.
In the extended version, where the students who will volunteer, do not have the opportunity to meet face to face with their grandparents, the flow process will be as follows:
• young people make short videos, presenting themselves and/or presenting a skill, singing, playing guitar, reading fairy tales, etc. to introduce themselves;
• they share this video with Türkiye Alzheimer Derneği, to be forwarded to the relatives of the person with dementia;
• the people with dementia and their relatives watch these videos a couple of times to enable them get to know the young person and to feel bonded;
• when the person with dementia feels ready, their contact information is forwarded to the student who will be the “grandchild”;
• the volunteer will be expected to call the Association on a regular basis.
As with all volunteer work, discipline and regularity are very important in this project. It is very important to meet reasonable requests from the families, to call at the promised time, and to treat all participants with respect, kindness and compassion. To try to ensure this, a training is given to volunteers about the disease, and to inform them about some “do’s and don’ts” before they start.
