Nine Greem Pharmacy Senior Instructors Begin Field Activities in Seongnam

Nine senior instructors who completed the "Greem Pharmacy Senior Instructor Training Course" held at Bundang Senior Welfare Center last August have begun their field activities in earnest.

The Greem Pharmacy Senior Instructor Training Course is an education program designed so that seniors learn digital devices and content firsthand and can in turn guide other older adults in their community through the activities. Going forward, the nine instructors who completed the course will run the Greem Pharmacy program for older adults at senior centers in Seongnam and for users of the Customized Senior Care Service.

The field program runs at each institution once a week for 6~8 weeks, 1 hour per session. Participating older adults use tablets to experience a range of art activities such as drawing and coloring, taking on new digital activities together with the senior instructors.

In particular, this initiative goes beyond simply delivering a program. Through a structure in which trained seniors in turn support other seniors' activities, it is also creating new social roles and activity opportunities for seniors, along with the potential to expand into jobs in the future.

It also gives older adults who have found it hard to access diverse digital and cultural activities, due to the distance to welfare centers or difficulty getting around, a chance to try new activities close to home. Drawing and coloring on a tablet for the first time and completing small tasks on their own is leading to an experience that builds a sense of achievement and self-efficacy for participating older adults.

The oldest participant in the program, aged 94, shared: "This is the first time I've used a tablet like this. Drawing and coloring myself is so much fun that I'm already looking forward to next week's class."

Watching older adults complete each activity one step at a time by following the senior instructors' guidance, even with unfamiliar digital devices, confirmed that age is no barrier to starting new experiences.

Greem Pharmacy is an arts-based digital cognitive and emotional care service for seniors that uses tablet-based art activities to help older adults enjoy taking part while naturally thinking, expressing themselves, and staying connected with others.

The activities are scheduled to continue at senior centers and care sites in Seongnam through November.

Seniors moving from learners to teachers, and to people who connect other seniors with new experiences.

We ask for your interest and support for the new stories the nine Greem Pharmacy senior instructors will create across the community.