State Grid Ningxia: Volunteering activities enrich seniors' lives

The volunteer service team from the State Grid Ningxia Power Supply Company (Pingluo) recently visited the Miaomiaohu ecological community in Taole town, carrying out a themed activity featuring intangible cultural heritage handicrafts.

This initiative applied excellent traditional Chinese culture to enrich the lives of the elderly, helped build a mutual-aid social circle and addressed the challenges of digital addiction and weakened social interaction among immigrant seniors.

As an ecological resettlement community, Miaomiaohu saw its original rural acquaintance-based social network break down after residents were relocated from their home villages. Many elderly residents had few outlets for their spiritual lives, and watching short videos on mobile phones gradually became their main way to spend their idle time. Some seniors spent excessive time online, which not only caused physical problems such as dry, fatigued eyes and cognitive decline, but also led to social issues including reduced neighborhood interaction and a deepening generational communication gap.

This volunteer service explored a closed-loop intervention model combining "digital health + cultural immersion". Building on digital anti-fraud outreach and eye-care guidance, it introduced traditional culture experiences to draw seniors away from electronic screens and back into offline real life, rebuild neighborhood bonds, as well as promote exchanges and integration among people of all ethnic groups in their communities.

At the event site, volunteers brought a rich selection of intangible cultural heritage craft materials, such as Chinese herbal fragrance paintings and bamboo weaving paintings. They used plain, easy-to-understand language to introduce the traditional skills and cultural connotations behind the bamboo weaving, and herbal fragrances. Considering that some seniors had limited mobility, volunteers worked in small groups to provide one-on-one assistance and patiently demonstrated each step.

The activity also included autumn and winter health tips. The volunteer explained knowledge of chronic disease prevention for the elderly in combination with seasonal changes, implementing convenient care into every detail.

This activity aimed to use a fulfilling lifestyle to replace the screen time of the elderly who were excessively browsing videos, and guide the elderly to participate in social interaction activities.

After the project's continuous intervention services, the average daily time spent by community elders watching short videos has significantly decreased, and their willingness to participate in offline collective activities has continued to increase. Many participants have taken the initiative to grow into silver-haired digital health lecturers, turning from "service recipients" to "active participants", injecting silver-haired strength into the grassroots governance of communities.