Abbie, 17, Dublin

Abbie, along with her classmates, has chosen to take on the issue of social isolation among elderly people during this pandemic.

They know this is a difficult time for everyone, but feel it is an especially difficult time for the older people in society who have been asked to cocoon. Although this measure has been introduced for their own safety, it may result in older people feeling even more isolated than before as they may not be able to keep in touch with their families, friends and neighbours. Abbie and her team feel that as a society we need to acknowledge this and do whatever we can to help and support them through this difficult time.

Their idea is to get feedback from the people most affected by this issue, the older people themselves. They have created and distributed a survey with a few simple questions in order to find out what older people would like young people to do for them during this pandemic. They encouraged as many older people as possible to participate in their survey to get the most accurate results possible.

With the survey now complete, they have analysed the findings and displayed them in an easy-to-read report. The report has also been shared on social media, with groups who work with older people, and also with other young people to encourage them to get involved and support the older people within their own local communities.

They hope that their idea will help the older people within our society feel less isolated during this extremely challenging time.

Abbie and her team would like to thank all the older people who participated in their survey, their honest feedback is genuinely appreciated. 

Their focus now is on ensuring what older people asked for in the survey gets done, as much as is possible, and that their report reaches as many people and as many organisations and communities as possible.

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