The “Living with the Times” toolkit contains illustrated posters that require minimal reading sklls, are culturally diverse and encourage engagement rather than just supplying information.
The toolkit also includes instructions for facilitators of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) on how to conduct guided conversations with older adults using these posters. Posters and facilitator instructions were designed in a way that each can be used alone or in combination, as a complete toolkit.
The “Living with the times” toolkit is truly unique. For the first time, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) in Emergency Settings (IASC MHPSS RG) in a unique collaboration with experts from different disciplines, including dementia, MHPSS in humanitarian settings, and ageing and disability, developed a resource specifically targeting the needs of older adults.
A total of 199 older adults aged between 60 and 90 years, from 51 countries, were involved in the development of the toolkit. Through a network of country-level MHPSS Technical Working Groups, the posters were tested with older adults from different countries, income groups and contexts, including humanitarian settings.
The posters and messaging build upon the existing IASC guidance sections for older adults (see IASC Interim Briefing Note Addressing Mental Health and Psychosocial Aspects of COVID-19 Outbreak, and the IASC Guidance on Operational Considerations for Multisectoral Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Programmes during the COVID-19 Pandemic.)
