Issues discussed and tackled within the project included ageism in society, respect for older people, staying active after retirement and contributing to society, access to healthcare and the need for state pensions. The group also decided to focus on the impact of urban living, access to services and poor air quality on older people. Marginalised groups who often lack formal channels to meaningfully contribute to public policy were able to amplify their voice through the project. Personal testimonies came from a refugee woman and other women participants highlighting the state pension policy blind spot for women who do not work. Participants summarized well their motive: ‘We have gathered to discuss healthy ageing, to make a movie that reflects our views on the topic and to encourage you to think about it too’. The film demonstrated how older people need to be involved in consultation and research, and provided with appropriate channels to get their needs and views taken into account in legal frameworks and policies.

Both older and younger people

Health, Housing, Information and Communication, Long-term care, Social protection, Transportation, Urban development, Other

Civil Society Organization

Older people were part of the process at multiple or all stages

The project was a collaboration between WHO, Institute of Family Health, HelpAge International and InsightShare. InsightShare facilitated the workshop and the Institute of Family Health led on planning and local logistics, as well as supporting facilitation, filming and providing translation with global project management from HelpAge International. A volunteer with IFH, supported the facilitation process and provided translation throughout, as well as photographing some of the workshop activities. The whole workshop was based on collaboration. During the first days, the focus was on building connections and group bonding. Subsequent days involved participants working through different exercises to identify key issues and to discuss the best way to represent them. An example of such an exercise was the ‘story circle’, used to explore what was meant by healthy ageing, discuss the Decade’s action areas and agree topics to explore in greater depth. Each person contributes a personal story relevant to the subject agreed by the group. A ‘Problem Tree’ was also used to investigate causes and effects of attitudes towards ageing, after which the group produced an ‘ideas garden’, in which each idea and related issues were captured on the flower centre and ‘petals’ created with paper in the walls. This group was very excited to learn the technical side of video making from the moment they stepped into the workshop space. As the group worked through different exercises, screening the material back to them straight afterwards enabled them not only to discuss the technical merits, or things to improve, but also to identify key issues for them and to discuss the best way to represent them. A variety of people of different ages and backgrounds were also involved through the ‘voxpop’ approach of the project. It enabled the participants to have many conversations on location, both as they approached passers-by to ask them to be interviewed and during the interviews themselves. The filming in front of the souq also drew the crowds, with people gathering around as interviews took place and members of the group explained to people the project and the topic of healthy ageing, and the Decade.

The impact on older people was best described by Adnan Abu Al-Haija, IFH Programme Development director: ‘They were using a professional and advanced language and it was amazing to see them in such a short time managing the video filming and working in synergy to achieve a common goal. This was very moving for me. I have never seen participants so emotional and upset because a training project has reached its end!' In terms of a broader audience, the discussion following the local screening, which was attended by more than 50 people, remarked on the issues presented as relevant and compelling. Some audience members remarked on how effective the role play worked to illustrate not only the cost and availability of medicine, but also the dismissive and ageist attitudes of some people in society. The participants wish to continue to create videos together to showcase their perspective on healthy ageing and issues pertinent to them, such as further work on gender perspectives and from the refugee perspective. They proposed the idea of a seniors’ video hub.

During the first days of the workshop, participants had to travel some distance to attend as they lived in different parts of the city or even in neighbouring cities. Therefore, this placed some pressure on the time available each day. The heavy traffic congestion at the beginning and end of working days meant that it could take some of the group almost two hours to get home. To account for this, we designed the workshop together, whilst building the group agreement, to work intensively and finish soon after lunch. A local park formed the backdrop for two further sections of the video and it was hoped to interview more members of the public there. However, perhaps because it was a windy and hot day, the park was fairly empty, so participants decided to film their own statements to camera for the recommendations section of the video at this location A highlight of the filming experience was a role play sequence to illustrate the barriers to access to healthcare and medicines in terms of cost and limited availability of medication in the pharmacies. The most challenging aspect of this part of the workshop was not to dissolve into helpless laughter during a ‘take’, and not to drop the boom into shot!

Many of the lessons came through the process of creating the film. The discussions enabled a lot of difficult realities about the situation of particularly vulnerable older groups such as women and refugees. As Jordan has an enormous population of refugees, the group decided that personal testimony was the most effective way to highlight the specific situation for older people who are refugees and one group member who had experienced living in the refugee camps on her flight with her family from Syria gave her compelling and moving account of leaving her home country, direct to camera. The importance of access to paid work for women was the focus of a section in which two women from the group highlighted the fact that without this, they do not have access to pensions or health insurance given the absence of state pensions. In the final recommendations section, statements to camera are used to emphasize that reaching the age of 60 should not mean that older people have no more value (hence the title of the video), that older people need to be involved in consultation and research, what policy-makers and decision-makers need to consider and how to use media to raise awareness.

The role-play section of the video was meant to show ageist attitudes through the interaction of the key character with people on the street and the medical profession. The exchange was exaggerated to make a dramatic impact. It is meant to stimulate discussion in a process that is about dialogue. It was also the group’s chosen way to self-represent these issues. It is important that participatory videos are seen as a tool for exchange and discussion, so context is all important either in public presentations of the videos or in online sharing, to avoid any unintentional harm. Once the film was finalized, great efforts were made to share it. Multiple screenings and dissemination through media could have a definite influencing impact. As Esam Albarahmeh, IFH Head of Operations stated: ‘It is possible that the film will influence and change public perceptions of older people's demands and needs, but it must be widely spread through the media and social media in order for the greatest number of people to see it, whether on an individual level or through governmental organizations and institutions.’