Older persons from communities in District 6 of Tehran gathered in Laleh Park for the semi-final rounds of competitions. Credit: Maryam Mollaie
20 February 2023 – Ms Hamdam Moazeni, a 72-year-old retiree, is an active member of her local community. She has been a representative of the elderly population in District 6 of Tehran since 2012. She helped organize and attended the Happy Seniors Citizens Festival as a game supervisor and a team member. Their team is called Javanan-e-Dirooz meaning Youngsters of Yesterday in the Nezami Ganjavi neighbourhood.
With a successful background as a principal at various schools, she has extensive experience working with teenagers. To Ms Moazemi, a prominent value of the Happy Senior Citizens Festival is the opportunity for intergenerational bonding and social inclusion of the elderly, which is an even bigger challenge in metropolitan cities like Tehran.
"The participation of the elderly with their family members in games and competitions will cheer them up. This interaction between generations creates enthusiasm, excitement and energy. In games with intense physical activity, the competition of the players was quite eye-catching and fascinating to me because in these games the grandchildren take on a more serious role while the rest of the team guide and motivate them."
The Happy Senior Citizens Festival was a partnership among Tehran Municipality, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, a local NGO that advocates for elderly health, and WHO and comprised a series of games and competitions. Over 6000 persons 65 years and older and their grandchildren from across the 22 districts of Tehran participated in this festival, and after 3 rounds of competition 5 top winning teams received trophies.
Physical inactivity and social isolation are among the most important health risks factors for this age group, and the COVID-19 pandemic significantly increased exposure to them. The festival was intended to be a step toward addressing these risk factors, especially as an approach to post-COVID recovery. On the importance of being physically and socially active in playful settings and its impact on health and well‑being, she added: "I recently did a health checkup, and the results showed that my health age was 55 years – more than 15 years younger than my actual age! I owe this mostly to my friends of the same age participating in these joint activities. Being active is critical for us. I am a neighbourhood council member and I advocate for the role that these competitions play in the social and physical activity of the elderly. It is indeed very useful and empowers the community, and that is why I am very interested in holding competitions and participating in the following rounds."
WHO encourages community engagement for health and well-being and has multiple partnerships and ongoing programmes to promote healthier settings and lifestyles. One of the main programmes in this regard is the “Healthy Cities Programme,” which has helped establish a National Healthy Cities Network of over 10 members dedicated to building healthy and resilient urban areas. People in urban areas are exposed to multiple health risk factors, including pollution, socioeconomic risk factors and disasters. Accordingly, WHO helps communities to properly address environmental and social determinants of health not only as a part of post-COVID recovery but also as a means of buidling more resilient communities.