59-05-032 Proceeding

123 Proceedings of the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Congress 2) Formats of programs for the elderly: The types of programs for the elderly are informative, news, and entertainment. Even though informative programs are appropriate for viewers of every age group, there should be some that provide information of special interest to the elderly. Educational programs should include adult education. News programs should include and prioritize news about senior citizens. Since many old people are unable to go out of the house to have fun, watching entertainment programs on TV is one of their best ways to relax. In this age of small screen technology, many retired people feel distant from their children and grandchildren. There are fewer family times for talking together. Seniors need TV to relax. Entertainment programs for the elderly should give them enjoyment and make them laugh. The content of programming for the elderly should focus on self care, health, religion, travel and new technology. The content should not be too academic or serious. It should be fun and creative, and should tell about the positive aspects of aging.The appropriate format for programs for the elderly is documentary. If the presentation is fun and creative, such as a combination of documentary and old-style drama, and if the content is about Buddhist Dhamma or health care, then elder viewers will enjoy it. The presentation style should be variety shows, because they can incorporate many different things and can be enjoyable for both old people and younger viewers. TVprograms for the elderly should be creative and fun. Old people need excitement and fun in their lives. The comedy should be polite and respectful comedy. The presenters should maintain an easygoing tone with meaningful dialogue so that they can deliver information and entertainment in an aesthetically pleasingway. The hosts of TVprograms for the elderly should be knowledgeable, capable and have good communication skills. They should speak politely, because they are speaking to respected elders. Older people are emotionally sensitive. Female presenters should be respectfully dressed. Older presenters are preferable, because they will be better able to create an understanding with older viewers. They should have a trustworthy presenting style. Visual and audio effects should be low key, with little panning and zooming and few graphics. Vivid colors should be included and any written letters on the screen should be larger than usual. The sound level should be loud and clear. Musical soundtracks should be soft and melodious, especially using old-style string orchestra music. Because older viewers may have difficulty differentiating the tones of sound, there should be an emphasis on clearly spoken dialogue rather than background music. The audio should match the program format. 3) Psychology of the aged: The research found that TV programming should meet the needs of the elderly. In order to produce suitable programming, TV stations, producers and operations personnel need more knowledge about the psychology, problems and needs of elderly viewers. Their problems include health, education, security, income, work, and welfare. Their needs are physical, emotional, economic, social, welfare, education, and information needs. [16] David Berlo’s communication model should be reversed from SCMR to R (receiver) - M (message) - C (channel) - S (sender) [17] Berlo postulated that the sender has to have skills and expertise in communication and the ability to encode the information to be transmitted as well as a good attitude toward the message receivers. For effective communication, the sender should