Thuy Bich Tran is the country director of HelpAge International in Vietnam. She has 25 years working experience in ageing, gender, and community development. In 2006, she founded the Intergenerational Self-help Club (ISHC) development model in Vietnam. The ISHC is a community-driven development model that provides control of the development process, resources, and decision-making authority directly to community groups. The underlying assumption of ISHC approaches are that communities are the best judges of how their lives and livelihoods can be improved and, if provided with opportunities, information, and adequate resources, they can organize themselves to provide for their immediate and future needs. ISHC approaches have been successfully scaled-up nationally in Vietnam and has also been piloted in large number of countries in the region. Over the past 15 years, Thuy Bich Tran has tirelessly worked to develop the ISHC development model to become the leading model promoting healthy ageing in Vietnam.
Thuy Bich Tran has demonstrated that ISHCs can serve as a strong mechanism for community-led sustainable social protection and can be an effective platform to mobilize collective voice and advocate for the rights and entitlements of disadvantaged groups. The ISHC model has rapidly grown over the years. By the end of 2021, 3,842 ISHCs were successfully established in 61 out of 63 provinces/cities in Vietnam benefiting more than 4 million people annually. With the new Prime Minister Decision 1336, the country aims to increase the number of ISHC to 6,500 by 2025. The National Program of Actions on Older people 2021-2030 includes the following target: by 2030, at least 80% of communes in the country will contain ISHCs or other models that both provide care and promote the role and contribution of older people.
Thuy Bich Tran’s work to research, promote, and improve the IHSC model is an inspiring example of how innovations that centre the needs and perspectives of older people can accelerate change and positive impact for healthy ageing in a scalable way.