The 360 Workshops for older adults – Virtual reality to counter mistreatment among older adults

PRINCIPAL RESEARCHER:

Jasmin Roy Sophie Desmarais Foundation

Ateliers 360 produced by UNLTD

RESEARCH TEAM:

Marie Beaulieu (Ph.D), Sherbrooke University

CHAIR PERSONNEL INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT:

Julien Cadieux Genesse, Chair coordinator and master in social service

Kevin St-Martin, research assistant and candidate for the title of master in social service

Anabelle Rondeau-Leclaire, research professional and master in social service

GRANTING AGENCY AND GRANT AMOUNT:

The creation and the distribution of the virtual reality clips were made possible with the financial support of the Government of Québec, in particular by granting funding to the Jasmin Roy Sophie Desmarais Foundation through the program Québec ami des aînés. The financial participation of the Luc Maurice Foundation is also important to highlight.

The scientific and financial contribution of the Research Chair on Mistreatment of Older Adults also allowed to develop parts of this awareness activity.

PROJECT COMPLETION DATES:

January of 2020 to January of 2023

ROLE OF THE CHAIR IN THE PROJECT:

Since 2018, the Chair works in collaboration with the Jasmin Roy Sophie Desmarais Foundation to develop virtual reality clips to raise the awareness of older adults, their relatives and the practitioners in the field of health care or social services for mistreatment, intimidation and ageism.

RESEARCH PROBLEM:

The countering of mistreatment towards older adults in Québec organised itself around the Governmental Action Plan to Counter Elder Abuse (2010-2015), although multiples actions were undertaken in the province since the 1980s to curb this social issue. The second action plan, coming into force in June of 2017, has reinforced the will of the government to counter mistreatment towards older adults but also intimidation which the latter can experience in their social or private environment.

In that sense, the Research Chair had its mandate broaden to include in its research and awareness activities projects about intimidation towards older adults and wellness care as a complementary approach to countering mistreatment. The partnership with the Jasmin Roy Sophie Desmarais Foundation is part of these broadened activities.

Generally, it is important to invest some efforts in raising awareness about intimidation, mistreatment and ageism, among all social groups. This includes older adults, but also their relatives, healthcare and social services professionals, the community and private organisations.

Indeed, these are social issues that can create important physical, psychological or financial consequences for people experiencing such situations, on those witnessing them, but also on society as a whole, for example by the social withdrawal and isolation of older adults.

Finally, the sensitive nature of the themes addressed as part of these awareness activities makes it so it can be difficult to recruit participants to activities tackling them. For this purpose, virtual reality is an innovative way to address these issues by capturing the interest of people and organisations in a different way.

GOAL OF THE PROJECT OR RESEARCH QUESTION:

This project is part of the training and awareness mandate of the Research Chair. It addresses the themes of mistreatment, which include ageism, and intimidation towards older adults. It also tackles the healthy emotional and relational lifestyle habits, which are related to the themes of wellness care.

These training workshops occur within different groups, which are the healthcare and social services network professionals, community organisations, older adults and their relatives.

Their goal is to make the participants aware of the difficulties older adults and their peers in their social interactions can experience and have the people think about the strategies that can be used to counter these situations.

OBJECTIVES:

The 360 Workshops for older adults are divided into four objectives, which are:

1. Contribute to countering intimidation, mistreatment and ageism experienced by older adults.
2. Implement a discussion space to address the reactions raised by viewing the videos.
3. Stimulate the thinking and exchanges about the strategies favoring healthy social interactions with older adults.
4. Favor the development of healthy emotional and relational lifestyle habits.

METHODOLOGY:

In 2018, the Research Chair carried out a state of scientific knowledge on “mistreatment” (which includes ageism), “intimidation” and the use of “virtual reality” with the purpose of raising awareness at large, and particularly, these three social issues which are mistreatment, intimidation and ageism.

In the same year, followed a proposal of virtual reality scenarios related to each of these three social issues. From these suggestions, the Foundation took charge of writing the script of three scenarios, film them and take care of the sound and visual editing.

In 2019, the Chair received the mandate of writing the Training guide to make the 360 Workshops for older adults available to the public.

Since February of 2020, the professionals of the research team, all of them trained in social work, are involved in the deployment of the 360 Workshops for older adults provincially.

During the year, a first evaluation of the program’s establishment will happen and will be the subject of a master’s thesis.

PROJECT ADVANCEMENT:

Since its deployment in 2019, the 360 Workshops for older adults were facilitated in many environment and has reach diverse populations. Furthermore, it is the subject of a study in progress as part of a master’s thesis in social work.

The 360 Workshops were highlighted on the provincial scene thanks to different media coverages (see annex 1) and the publication of a popular article in the journal Encrâge in 2020, as well as on the national and international scene thanks to poster presentations at the Canadian Association on Gerontology (CAG)’s congress in March 2019 and at the Colloque international du Réseau d’Études International sur l’Âge, la CitoyenneTé et l’Intégration Socio-économique (REIACTIS) in February 2020.

Facilitation

To this day, the activities were presented to 11 groups composed of older adults, employees of private residences, masters student in social work or researchers involved in countering mistreatment, which represents about 200 participants. These activities took place in seniors’ private residences, a research centre, a non-profit organisation for older adults, in a private home and a university class room.

• Cadieux Genesse, J. & St-Martin, K. (17 février 2022). Atelier 360 aînés. Chartwell Résidence Le St-Gabriel, Saint-Hubert, Québec (Canada)
• Cadieux Genesse, J. & St-Martin, K. (20 avril 2021). Atelier 360 aînés. TRS-717, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec (Canada).
• Rondeau-Leclaire, A. (1er octobre 2020). Atelier 360 aînés. Sorel-Tracy, Québec (Canada).
• Rondeau-Leclaire, A. (24 septembre 2020). Atelier 360 aînés. Orford, Québec (Canada).
• Cadieux Genesse, J. (28 février 2020). Atelier 360 aînés. Sercovie, Sherbrooke, Québec (Canada).
• Cadieux Genesse, J., Rondeau-Leclaire, A., Beaulieu, M. & St-Martin, K. (19 février 2020). Atelier 360 aînés. Hôtel Méridien Versailles, Montréal, Québec (Canada).
• Beaulieu, M., St-Martin, K., Cadieux Genesse, J. & Rondeau-Leclaire,A. (19 février 2020). Atelier 360 aînés. Hôtel Méridien Versailles, Montréal, Québec (Canada).
• Cadieux Genesse & St-Martin, K. (29 janvier 2020). Ateliers 360. Centre de recherche sur le vieillissement. Sherbrooke, Québec (Canada).
• Beaulieu, M. (28 novembre 2019). Lancement des Ateliers 360 pour les personnes aînées en partenariat avec la Fondation Jasmin Roy et Sophie Desmarais, Montréal, Québec (Canada).

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many activities were canceled or reported, this affected negatively the organisation of new activities. Indeed, the pandemic forced a reflection about the sanitary measures that must be deployed to ensure the protection of participants as well as the facilitators. For example, even though the activity is planned for groups of 10 to 30 people, workshops were made with groups of less than 10 people to facilitate social distancing and the respect of the measures imposed by the government of Québec.

The following table presents a list of measures that were implemented. Please note that these measures were applied in a flexible way to fit with the recommendations issued by the santé publique du Québec when the activities took place.

Three new workshops day are planned in June 2022 to highlight the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. More than 350 participants are expected for this event.

To book the 360 Workshops for older adults or for any other information, send an email with your request and your contact information to the following email address: ateliers360aines@outlook.com

The Jasmin Roy Sophie Desmarais Foundation will be able to answer all of your questions about the awareness project with virtual reality.

COMMUNICATIONS:

St-Martin, K., & Beaulieu, M. (4 au 6 février 2020). La réalité virtuelle comme outil de sensibilisation à l’intimidation envers les personnes aînées. 6^e Colloque international du Réseau d’Études International sur l’Âge, la CitoyenneTé et l’Intégration Socio-économique (REIACTIS) « Société inclusive et avancée en âge ». Metz (France).

St-Martin, K. (2019). St-Martin, K., & Beaulieu, M. (October 25th, 2019). Virtual reality as a tool to raise awareness and prevent older adults’ bullying. 48th Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting of the Canadian Association of Gerontology « Navigating the Tides of Aging Together ». Moncton, New Brunswick (Canada).

PUBLICATIONS:

St-Martin, K. (2020). La réalité virtuelle, un outil de sensibilisation prometteur auprès des aînés. Encrâge, 21, 10.

MEDIA PRESENCES: