Canadian Yongjie Yon has a passion for shining light on issues that are all too often ignored. That passion has steered him through a somewhat unusual career path: from applied psychology to gerontology, from the United States to Brazil and Switzerland, with a professional stopover at a federal prison among others, he has landed in Copenhagen, Denmark. As a technical officer in the unit for Policy and Governance for Health throughout the Life-Course, he combines his preferred areas of work: ageing and health, with a dash of violence prevention.
Before we discuss that interesting combination: what’s your background?
I studied gerontology, which means the science of ageing. During my undergraduate days, at the end of my bachelor’s degree in applied psychology and towards the end of my research programme, I got a bit tired of endless research. I saw the practicum required to graduate as an opportunity to actually apply research; and it so happened that I got the opportunity to do my practicum working in a prison setting.
That was an unexpected turn. What did your work entail?
I worked as a parole officer at a regional assessment centre, reviewing all the case files including criminal and sentencing reports, as well as interviewing inmates. I then developed a curriculum to support each person and build skills, with the hope that they would go back to their communities as productive members of society.
What brought you to WHO?
After contemplating forensic psychology, my interest in “forgotten” issues drove me towards elder abuse and the gap that I felt exists: far too little attention is given to the topic, considering today’s ageing population in so many parts of the world. In 2015, I did an internship with WHO in Geneva as a PhD candidate. The internship was a combination of 2 programmes: ageing and violence prevention. I delved into a systematic review and meta-analysis of all the prevalence studies done on elder abuse. The findings were alarming: 1 in 6 older people had experienced abuse in the past year, translating into 141 million older people globally. Another finding was the alarming level of abuse within long-term care settings: 65% of staff reported having abused residents. That’s 2 out of 3 staff! I feel strongly about not placing blame: the root causes can include a lack of staff; a lack of resources, training and attention, resulting in undue stress of health workers. The results of my dissertation were eventually published in the Lancet. When I left the internship, I got a call from the WHO Regional Office for Europe in Copenhagen, as they were looking for someone to fill a position with a focus of 50% on ageing, 50% on violence and injury prevention – which was exactly what I had done during my WHO internship. It was a perfect match. This week is actually my 6th year anniversary with WHO.
Congratulations! How has your work impacted others?
Before joining WHO, I worked for the Canadian government on ageing policies, including a national initiative to raise awareness on elder abuse. In addition, I’ve contributed to developing Canadian legislation to increase pension age, and to establish National Senior’s Day in Canada. My PhD dissertation and my WHO internship helped shed light on ageing and elder abuse, and WHO is now stepping up its work to tackle the issue as part of the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing. At a recent Ministerial Conference on Ageing in Rome, Italy, we launched the report “Tackling abuse of older people: five priorities for the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030)”. But behind reports and numbers, it’s ultimately about the victims. Actually, I’d rather use the word survivors – because they have the courage to tell their stories. The perpetrator can be a family member, and many don’t want to report their own child or grandchild. Of all stories I worked through during my research, I always remember this survivor who reported her own case of abuse to the authorities saying that: “it [his own behaviour] hurts my son as well, but I also hurt for him”.
You must have come in contact with so many heartbreaking stories. How do you avoid them impacting your own well-being?
I feel my work ultimately is a way to bring about change for the better. Also, I’m a practicing Buddhist, and Buddhism ultimately teaches that each and every one has the power within them to change, rather than placing responsibility elsewhere. It’s empowering on a personal level. I’m part of a huge Buddhist community called Soka Gakkai, for which I’m also a youth leader. This means doing regular home visits and getting to know youth in Denmark. I remember this young man: when I first met him 6 years ago, he had a lot of personal challenges and was so shy that he wouldn’t even make eye contact. Now he is doing so well at school and actively pursuing his dreams to become a teacher so that he can help others. There is a Buddhist saying, “If one lights a lantern for others, one will brighten one’s own way”.
What’s the latest book you have read?
It’s called the New Human Revolution. It’s taken me 15 years and I’m still reading it.
Wait, what?
Well, it’s actually a series of 30 volumes, and I’ve only just finished volume 24. It’s written by my mentor in life, Dr Daisaku Ikeda, president of Soka Gakkai International. The Human Revolution means a revolution in our own actions and behaviour; if we change ourselves, the world changes. It’s about purposefully engaging in behaviours grounded in compassion. The New Human Revolution tells the story of a fictional character, Shin’ichi Yamamoto, and how he built a global movement of peace, culture and education. It’s a story of his encounters with people all over the world: musicians, politicians, scientists, ordinary people, and the dialogues he had on philosophy, science, education, music, leadership. It’s about life, about anything and everything. It has taken me so long to read it because it contains so many jewels and life lessons. There’s a saying that the New Human Revolution doesn’t just end at volume 30; the 31st volume is your own human revolution. How do you lead your own journey forward?
Now we know what we’ll be doing for the next 15 years. And your movie tip?
I recently saw an older film called “Charlotte’s Web” on the plane and I really love it. The film is based on the book with the same name. It’s about a spider, Charlotte, helping a runt piglet who will be killed for Christmas. By writing different words in her web, she attracts people from afar to visit these “divine manifestations”, and Wilbur, the pig, is saved. The story shows that however small you are, you can make a difference and save someone’s life.
Division of Country Health Policies and Systems (CPS) – Policy and Governance for Health throughout the Life-Course (PGH)
- Number of unit staff: 8
- The PGH unit supports countries in developing sound and evidence-informed health policies, underpinned by robust governance mechanisms, encompassing all stages of people’s lives. By engaging with key stakeholders, and working closely with all programmes across the Regional Office and WHO country offices, PGH provides technical leadership for strong, effective and responsive policies through knowledge sharing and translation as well as capacity-building.
- The PGH unit has 4 main areas of work: supporting countries in developing and implementing health policies; strengthening health systems governance; strengthening evidence-informed decision-making; and healthy ageing across the life-course.