Work on your health digitally

As part of the Common Community Commission’s (GGC) “Fighting the Digital Divide” project, we have been collaborating with the non-profit organisation The Switch since September 2020. The GGC aims to guide individuals who do not have digital access to healthcare through this type of project so that access becomes possible.

The “Digital Storytelling” project started on 28 September with a workshop for 5 enthusiastic participants and resulted in 3 finished digital stories. A “digital story” is a short film of 1 to 3 minutes with images and a voice-over. We then organised a second workshop in collaboration with Cosmos vzw, a service centre working with seniors, with 10 participants.

During the information session that took place to explain our project, participants expressed a lot of interest. They seized the opportunity to participate and finally be able to speak openly about the issue of the digital divide and the associated feeling of exclusion. Cosmos vzw members experienced this exclusion even more during the health crisis. The health crisis also eventually made us postpone our planned workshop because of tightened health measures and the vulnerability of our target audience.

Much more important than the product is the process the storytellers went through during the workshops. Making a video of their story encourages participants to think more deeply about access to healthcare and their own experiences. Putting images on a story automatically makes them look for the essence, think deeply about it, and allows them to be more aware of what they actually already knew themselves. Through this method, during such a workshop, participants sensitise themselves and especially each other. Thus, in a safe group environment, they take a first step towards handling technology.

The digital stories of the participants can be viewed on the vimeo channel of Maks vzw:
vimeo.com/user/13243896