I’m sure you have heard the saying, “Never judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes.” I have posted before on the role of empathy in developing intercultural competence. It takes time and effort to develop the ability to really see things from another person’s perspective.

In a video I saw today, MIT researchers talk about literally walking a mile in someone else’s shoes, specifically the elderly.

Developing intercultural competence goes beyond just understanding people from different cultures. It can also include understanding people from different social and economic backgrounds as well as different generations. The video below is a good example of attempting to understand people who have changing physical abilities due to age.

What happens when you age?

23 August 2019|Health

In the United States, longevity has increased since the year 1900, where life expectancy was 47. Today, people live on average until 92 and the fastest growing age group is 85 and older.

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s AgeLab, researchers are exploring what it means to grow old and how to help design a world that is more inclusive for the ageing population.

Video by Alba Jaramillo

https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p07lnd5v/what-happens-when-you-age-