By Marjorie Willison, NS GovLab Fellow
I’m really glad that I applied to be a fellow with NS GovLab. It is such a pleasure to work with intelligent people who care so much about older adults, because other fellows challenge me and make me think, and I feel we’re doing good work.
When we first met — about 25 of us plus the planning team — I didn’t know more than three or four people, and I wasn’t sure how we would work together. I had promised myself, however, that I would go into this social innovation process with an open heart and hopefully an open mind.
Once we divided into teams, based on our interests and passions, the process seemed to flow more easily for me. Our team of six is quite diverse, and I relished the sometimes very different viewpoints around our table. We seem to take care to truly listen to contrasting ideas, and keep bringing our focus back to the topic our team had chosen and the views of the older adults we have been hearing from.
It was sometimes difficult to find older adults to interview, particularly those from groups living at the margins of society. On the other hand, it was very gratifying when we did connect to hear different stories and to learn what was top of mind in their lives.
I think this has been an important learning for me — to keep listening to the real-life stories of real people. In this way, any strategies our team considers have a stronger likelihood of forming a useful answer to an overarching question of this GovLab, “How might we create a province where people can age at home and stay connected to their community?”
I’ve also learned that repeated changes to the initiative we are planning is key to the social innovation process. In fact, when our team considers all of the diversity in the people we want to serve, connections we want to make, organizations and systems that might be interested, and what are appropriate technology approaches, there is plenty of room for always seeking ways to make adjustments to better serve older adults.
I’ve noticed a tension among social lab fellows: those who are comfortable with chaos and uncertainty, and those with a drive to act and get things done. I think this has been a healthy balance that adds to the richness of this social innovation process.
In short, it is the very diversity that underpins all aspects of our work — the people, the ideas, the methods — that in my view makes social innovation such a vibrant and gratifying process. At least this is so for me, and I expect it will be so for anyone who enjoys a challenge.
Marjorie is an NS GovLab fellow and writer of her own blog called Aging Well with Marjorie. She has a vested interest in seniors with an emphasis on aging well physically, mentally, and socially. She hopes to make a difference in the lives of the aging population in Nova Scotia.
Follow Marjorie on her blog (https://agingwellwithmarjorie.ca/) and on Twitter (@mjhwillison)
