2024 HAPI Honorable Mention
THE PROBLEM
Thailand’s aging society has unique characteristics. First, there is a large informal economy. Of the more than 5 million older people who are still working, 86.8 percent are informal workers. Connected to that, nearly half of Thai older people do not have substantial savings. In terms of income, older people receive about 32 percent of their income from work and 32 percent from their children. The challenge, then, is how to empower Thailand’s older population to become economically self-reliant, have a good quality of life, and reduce the burden on the country’s healthcare and long-term care systems.
THE INNOVATION
Ready Senior Project is a research project that puts creative ideas into practice and connects ideas to find new perspectives. It provides both online and in-person learning opportunities to support people aged 50 and over who want to prepare for retirement and to provide retirees with the modern skills and knowledge needed to make a living in the new economy.
This innovation features a platform that combines a learning space, a job search space, and a trading space that are appropriate for people who “want to know,” “want to be rich,” or “want to do.”
In the “Want to Know” section, training is offered in two skill groups:
(1) Technology skills: 4 courses with 18 topics help seniors develop digital skills and use technology to create businesses and generate income.
(2) Health skills for eldercare: 5 courses with 43 topics emphasize both knowledge and practice, helping learners gain the skills needed to take care of themselves and others, as well as being able to use it for a career.
Through the second skillset, they have also provided online training for caring for older family members with dementia. They worked with Japanese experts to bring innovative approaches to dementia to Thailand and also worked with experts at Thammasat Hospital to develop curriculum on treatment, care, and rehabilitation for people with dementia, and they offer training for those who would like to work as caregivers, with placements in internships and jobs as elderly companions and dementia caregiver assistants.
The “Want to Be Rich” section features a Ready Senior Marketplace & Job Place to provide a trading space between members and the general public to enable the elderly to use their underlying skills in building a business. The project provides training to provide knowledge in creating content and marketing.
Ready Senior has been able to reach a wide range of older people with their activities. There were over 16,000 people following the Ready Senior Page as of July 2022, and more than 4,000 people have participated in training programs, primarily online, organized as part of the “Want to Know” section of the platform. Finally, more than 200 trainees have received jobs that generate income, such as data management, consulting, transferring knowledge to others, volunteer work, or creating online sales pages for their own products.