“Right(s) now!”: RESISTIRÉ releases a game to protect older people’s rights
Older people’s rights are regularly undermined and that has been exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic. Safeguarding their rights and dignity is essential. The self-determination and autonomy of older people should be ensured everywhere (in care, on the street, in the family, etc.) and should not be limited by a paternalistic vision: older people should be supported to take their own decisions. In particular, the pandemic has shown that based on the assumption that older people should be protected, it has been decided for them that they should not “take risks”, e.g., by taking care of their grandchildren, going shopping, or meeting other residents of the nursing home.
Raising awareness through the “Right(s) now!” game
These cards are based on the observation that older people are not sufficiently aware of their rights, as well as those who feel responsible for protecting them.
Against this background, the RESISTIRÉ project has developed a game based on postcards, to raise awareness among different groups (older people, professionals in the care sector, people in charge of safeguarding rights, young students) on the human rights of older people, how to access support, and how to prevent situations like those observed during the pandemic from happening in the future, even in the absence of crises.
As RESISTIRÉ aims to find sustainable solutions to inequalities and strengthen societal resilience to outbreaks, each card provides insights as well as recommendations, including examples of solutions relating to the specific situation introduced in the card. All policy recommendations produced over the 30 months of project activity can be viewed here.
How does it work?
Each postcard has two sides:
1. The front side presents an emotion together with an image and the question “Who am I?”. This is intended to spark the discussion, where players can engage in guesswork.
2. The back side contains a narrative that describes a particular experience associated with the clues provided in the front side of the card. This is followed by a list of facts leading to the violation of the rights and freedoms of older people during the Covid-19 pandemic. Drawing on this information, this second part of this game consists in:
- discussing the specific rights and freedoms being breached in relation to the particular case being presented, based on information provided in a QR code inserted in the back side of the card;
- discussing how this situation could be prevented in the future.
The QR code displayed at the back of the card links to more information on the rights of older people as well as recommendations provided by the RESISTIRÉ project team, including examples of solutions relating to the specific personal situations introduced in the cards.
What next?
The “Right(s) now!” game cards can be printed out by anyone and can be used, for example, for a discussion in a nursing home, as a side activity of a senior activity, or as a resource in an educational context. The game can be further developed to be adapted for use in different contexts and for different target groups e.g., in the training of the police, social workers, nurses, help-carers, etc.
12 cards are available as in a PDF document that can be easily printed in A4 format. Simply fold/cut them in two and glue both sides to start using them!
