Commercialisation of Tabletop Travels

In the UK over two million older adults 75+ live alone and many have poor health. This is a recipe for isolation and loneliness; a growing problem well evidenced by Healthy Ageing initiatives. COVID has exacerbated the situation, prompting anxiety about leaving the house. Isolated older adults often spend many waking hours passively watching television and are not online as much as younger people. Shrinking horizons and decreasing social confidence create barriers to arts and culture. Yet, we know that having a rich cultural, creative and sensory life promotes wellbeing, confidence and opportunities for connection. So, alternative and more active ways of engaging with the world beyond the four walls of home are needed. The majority of older people have smartphones or tablets which can be mobilised to support this engagement. Tabletop Travels https://www.tabletoptravels.co.uk/ offers older isolated people new ways to connect with culture. It is a home-delivered box of goodies that takes them on a multi-sensory journey to a travel destination; exploring life in a European city. Each box contains a guide booklet, at least eleven items including food, drink, something that smells good, a local craft, something to grow or a game, a souvenir and postcards. Optional associated video and audio are accessed through QR codes in the booklet or via the website. This media includes interviews with people associated with the items in the box, videos of city streets, a chef cooking a speciality etc. Each Tabletop Travels destination is curated by an artist who lives locally, lending the booklet and media a direct, personal and anecdotal tone that supports a sense of social connection. The wellbeing impacts of Tabletop Travels accrue from both the excitement of receiving a gift and seeing what's in the box, and then having fun independently exploring and sharing over a longer period. Wellbeing impacts are embedded into the experience with subtlety; re-gifting items and sending postcards enhances self-worth, activities such as games and crosswords support cognitive health, new conversations with carers are opened up and the box includes nudges to get online. A partner reported that an older isolated person had hung the Greek eye from the Athens box in her house and 'she would touch it and remember that someone somewhere had thought about her'. Tabletop Travels fills a gap in low-cost at-home cultural engagement activities for isolated adults that can be scaled. Organisations working with older people have told us that activities that do not require face-to-face interventions for delivery offer good value - so Tabletop Travels can be an enriching, stimulating and affordable add-on to their provision. Additionally, improved wellbeing can lead to fewer calls to GP, and less use of other services. Care homes are also interested in group boxes as part of their activity offer, as well as providers of in-home respite opportunities for carers. The Tabletop Travels concept originated from an older isolated person and has been developed through a co-design process. Now, we will found a social enterprise - our core strategy is to bring corporate sponsorship to supply grassroots partners with boxes to deliver to their community members; mobilising the work they have done in developing relationships with individual isolated older people with the greatest need. This will be supported by individual subscription sales and to-be-developed boxes for specific user groups.