Member Sima Hong: Proposal on improving the scientific literacy of my country's elderly

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2019, the population aged 65 and above in my country was about 176 million, accounting for about 12.6% of the total population, and the elderly dependency ratio was 17.8%. According to the National Working Committee on Aging, by 2050, the number of elderly people aged 60 and above in China will increase to about 487 million. Properly handling the relationship between population aging and harmonious social development has become a major issue in the high-quality development of my country's economy and society.

The results of the 11th China Citizens' Scientific Literacy Sampling Survey show that in 2020, the proportion of Chinese citizens with scientific literacy reached 10.56%. The survey covered citizens aged 18-69 in 31 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. Compared with other age groups, the scientific literacy level of citizens aged 60 to 69 surveyed was 3.52%, far below the average level. Taking information literacy as an example, with the rapid development of information technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence in my country, and the widespread application of intelligent services, the "digital divide" problem faced by the elderly has become increasingly prominent. The lack of information literacy makes it difficult for them to integrate into contemporary society. At the same time, the elderly generally pay attention to health. The level of health literacy will affect the elderly's own health and ability to manage chronic diseases, and they are also easily deceived and exploited by pseudo-religions, superstitions, and pseudo-scientific products.

The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed that it is necessary to implement a national strategy to actively respond to population aging, improve the scientific literacy of the elderly, help the elderly integrate into modern society, and have a higher quality of life, which is also an important measure to cope with population aging.

1. Integrate resources and work together to promote the improvement of scientific literacy among the elderly

Integrate the resources and platforms of the Party and government departments such as health, science and technology, publicity, education, and mass organizations such as the Association for Science and Technology, trade unions, and the Women's Federation, as well as the media, and carry out a multi-faceted and comprehensive science popularization campaign for the elderly. Combined with key tasks such as poverty alleviation and medical reform, promote the implementation of the scientific literacy promotion campaign for the elderly. Incorporate health literacy and information literacy knowledge and skills into the curriculum of senior citizen universities and social universities, with relevant government departments providing certain support, training professional educators, highlighting public welfare, and promoting more elderly people to receive training.

2. Focus on content supply and provide targeted popular science products for the elderly

Establish and improve a database of popular science experts, and carry out various forms of popular science activities that meet the needs of the elderly. Focus on high-frequency matters involved in the daily lives of the elderly, provide more practical and popular popular science products, organize professional teams to compile relevant knowledge and information guides for health and other issues that the elderly are concerned about, and publish them to the public by professional institutions. Organize experts to clarify and correct false information that is concealed and harmful in a timely manner, enhance the rational discrimination ability of the elderly, and focus on preventing financial fraud targeting the elderly, promoting fake and inferior health products and related services, etc. Relevant departments of publicity and Internet information rely on professional forces to strengthen the review and supervision of television and newspaper columns, and deal with and punish problematic information platforms in accordance with laws and regulations.

3. Focus on convenience and speed, and carry out relevant activities with the community (village) as the center

Actively play the role of community (village) education in promoting health education for the elderly population, and support communities (villages) to provide professional scientific literacy improvement services. Through community (village) health service centers (rooms), day care centers, popular science gardens, party building gardens and other platforms, regularly provide health and wellness and new media skills training for the elderly in the community (village), answer questions for the elderly face to face and provide help. In view of the fact that the elderly are better at learning skills from their grandchildren, focus on the role of intergenerational learning.

4. Adhere to detailed implementation and promote the implementation of the plan for the use of smart technology by the elderly

In accordance with the spirit of the "Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Issuing an Implementation Plan to Solve the Difficulties of the Elderly in Using Intelligent Technology", it is recommended that relevant departments should formulate implementation rules and measures as soon as possible in accordance with the principle of promoting and operating, and promptly publicize and popularize through traditional media such as newspapers and television, so as to further promote the solution of the difficulties encountered by the elderly in using intelligent technology and enable the elderly to better share the fruits of information development. For high-frequency matters related to the daily life of the elderly, it is necessary to adhere to the parallel of traditional service methods and intelligent service innovation, adhere to the combination of traditional services and intelligent innovation, the combination of universal application and classified promotion, and the combination of online services and offline channels.

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Produced by: Beijing Science and Technology News | Science Plus Client

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