Centre for Socio-Economic Research on Aging, IRCCS INRCA-National Institute of Health and Science on Aging, Via Santa Margherita 5, 60124 Ancona, Italy.
University Centre Shrewsbury, University of Chester, Shrewsbury SY38HQ Shropshire, England.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Apr 3;17(7):2440. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17072440.
Building on the active aging framework, the aim of this study, carried out between 2016 and 2018, is to analyze concrete experiences of older individuals acting as key players of social change in six local communities of five European countries (Bulgaria, Denmark, England, France, Spain). The 19 seniors involved in the study, according to social contexts, individual past experiences, knowledge, and motivations, acted as senior social entrepreneurs, trying to build a pathway towards social solutions for unmet social problems they detected in local communities. Data were collected via templates and questionnaires and analyzed using the thematic analysis. The results highlighted that the 16 local initiatives created by seniors concerned social problems such as food waste, social isolation, multicultural integration, etc. The social solutions implemented by seniors seemed to have the potential to produce social value and, to different degrees, encouraging results and impact. Since this "social experiment" provided evidence that senior social entrepreneuring could be a driver to solve societal problems, policy makers should sustain the spread of both social entrepreneurial mindset and practices at the European level, for catalyzing the active potential of older people for the benefit of European local communities.
本研究以积极老龄化框架为基础，于 2016 年至 2018 年期间进行，旨在分析六位来自五个欧洲国家（保加利亚、丹麦、英格兰、法国和西班牙）的当地社区中老年人作为社会变革关键参与者的具体经验。19 位参与研究的老年人根据社会背景、个人过去的经验、知识和动机，担任老年社会企业家，试图为他们在当地社区发现的未满足的社会问题建立社会解决方案的途径。通过模板和问卷收集数据，并使用主题分析进行分析。结果表明，老年人创建的 16 个当地举措涉及社会问题，如食物浪费、社会孤立、多元文化融合等。老年人实施的社会解决方案似乎有可能产生社会价值，并在不同程度上产生鼓励性的结果和影响。由于这个“社会实验”证明了老年社会创业可以成为解决社会问题的驱动力，政策制定者应该在欧洲层面上支持社会创业思维和实践的传播，以激发老年人的积极潜力，造福于欧洲当地社区。
