@wasal Program for the Elderly Case Study

Sarah is one of the older women who
joined the @Wasal program 2018.
The program was organized by the
Assistive Technology Center – Mada in
cooperation with the General Retirement
and Social Insurance Authority and Ehsan
Center for Empowerment and Elderly Care.
She summarized her experience by saying
that she suffered from social isolation
because of her inability to communicate
effectively with family members and
relatives who were preoccupied with their
everyday life responsibilities. The isolation
and loneliness made her very sad, and had
negative effect on her self-confidence as
she needed others’ help to communicate
with those she wanted to contact.
Her lifestyle completely transformed after
joining @Wasal program, as she said
that this program has changed her life
for the better. She can now communicate
with family members, friends and
relatives through various communication
applications such as Whatsapp, Instagram
and Snapchat. These applications play an
important role in her life today, where
they make textual, audio and visual
communication possible and easy for her.
Because of her poor eyesight, Sarah
couldn’t use her mobile to send text
messages. @Wasal training included the
use of Voice Recording feature which
allowed her to easily send voice messages.
She also learned how to zoom in and out
which allowed her also to read all of her
messages and see the photos sent to her
clearly. Sarah is thrilled because now she
is able to independently video call her son
who is studying abroad.
I no longer need to go to government
departments or offices to get official
documents issued or apply for specific
services. For example, I recently renewed
my ID card using my mobile phone through
“Metrash 2” application, which made a real
difference to me. In general, after joining @
Wasal program, my life has become much
easier said Sarah.