Learning game: Smart against Ageism

<< Background >>The partner organisations were already working on the topics of anti-discrimination, intersectionality, health and age before the project. The partners have different focal points, but agreed that ageism is a very pressing and central problem that is nevertheless rarely addressed and thematised by society. Ageism is widespread due to the lack of discussion and awareness of existing stereotypes and is little reflected upon. Ageist behaviour has concrete effects on those affected, increasing stress, the risk of cardiovascular disease and lowering self-esteem. The aim of the project was to develop an educational offer that makes the topic of ageism more visible and addressable and offers counter-strategies. In addition to the general public, professionals from social or medical professions should also be addressed, as they are in contact with older people in particularly vulnerable situations. In this context, the perspectives of people affected by ageism should be integrated into the learning programmes and a low-threshold offer should be created using digital methods. During the project, it was confirmed how great the perceived need for material and exchange on the topic of ageism currently is.<< Objectives >>The overall aim was to make a positive contribution to combating ageism and to make the topic more visible and easier to discuss in public and in interested circles. The current invisibility of the topic makes it difficult to find suitable starting points to combat ageism. In many areas of anti-discrimination work, great progress has been made in recent years and much has been achieved in terms of sensitisation. Above all, stereotypes need to be made visible and recognised. The idea was to achieve this by creating attractive and easily accessible learning material. On the one hand, the idea was to make those affected by ageism more visible and to provide them with learning opportunities to deal with the topic and, on the other hand, to reach a wider public. The aim of the project was therefore to offer various learning materials that can be used by different groups and in different contexts.We also wanted to create a suitable digital learning offer that is easily accessible and can also be used with limited time resources. The aim here was to reach and sensitise professionals. To achieve this, existing experience with gamification was to be utilised and further developed.<< Implementation >>Four outputs were created in the project, which are part of an interlinked learning offer but can also be used independently of each other. A central idea of the project was to make the perspectives of those affected visible. An important activity at the beginning of the project was therefore to conduct interviews with older people in all partner countries and ask them about their everyday experiences with ageism. Based on these interviews, the compendium and the play scenes were created and other content was designed. Another important activity were test workshops, again with those affected. The idea here was that the content created on the basis of the interviews should be tested and commented on. These workshops were thus part of quality assurance and were intended to provide information about the authenticity and usability of the content.Further activities of the project were of course the work on the content and project management, as well as sharing and promotion activities. The latter in particular was intended to significantly increase the visibility of the topic of ageism. This worked well in the context of the project.<< Results >>The outputs are:PR1 - Compendium “Responding to ageism”: This is a compilation of perspectives and impressions based on the interviews. For this purpose, the interviews were analyzed and anonymized examples of ageism were included in the compendium. The idea was to provide various factual information on the topic and practical examples in order to raise awareness. The compendium also contains reflection questions and suggestions for smaller exercises or methods. The aim is to convey information and provide inspiration.PR2 - Interactive learning platform + game: The focus of the platform is the online game, which depicts various situations of discrimination in everyday life. The setting of the game is in the health sector to make it easy to use for the target group of professionals. The game is integrated into a learning platform where further information and learning materials can be accessed in all project languages and, for example, the use of the game in workshops is explained.PR3 - Trainer manual: The trainer manual is a document that describes how the online game can be used and deployed in a workshop. The workshop offers the opportunity to discuss certain aspects in greater depth, to focus on specific topics or to work out priorities with the participants.PR4 - Recommendations for policy- and decision makers: The recommendations are aimed at decision makers and are intended to promote positive measures against discrimination. This should address different levels in the project.