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The Danish Association of Senior Citizens: Principles & Projects
A co-operation among: Pensionisternes SamvirkeDen Fynsk-Jyske
Sammenslutning af PensionistforeningerSammenslutningen af
Pensionistforeninger i DanmarkLO Faglige SeniorerOmsorgsorganisationernes
Samråd, herunder OK-Klubberne i Danmark. There are about 1 million people over the age of 60 in Denmark. The organisation was founded in 1992, but several of its member organisations date back to 1929 when the first act on social assistance was passed in Denmark. Today, the Danish Association of Senior Citizens is a modern organisation with the objective of safeguarding its members' interests vis-à-vis the public authorities, etc. in all matters concerning elderly people, centrally as well as locally. The organisation is built around 1040 local associations, 15 county committees with attached consultants, a presidency and a secretariat. The organisations provide consultancy, training, advisory and information services and arrange trips and cultural events. The
organisations are financed by membership fees and public subsidies as well
as project funds and profit-earning activities. Projects "Seniors
assisting Seniors" The many activities and networks are based on the interests, wishes and needs of the target group. In associations and clubs, the seniors primarily meet through cultural activities, e.g. weekly get-togethers to listen to talks on various subjects, participate in card games, dances, etc.Membership is required to participate in these activities. The
"Seniors assisting Seniors" project supplements this work by
initiating various social activities by and with representatives of local
associations and others. Membership is not required to participate in
these activities, which are typically visits to elderly people who cannot
get out on their own. The “visiting friends” may also offer relief to the relatives of elderly people who are sick. E.g. if they need a bit of "freedom" from their caring duties to get away from their home, to go shopping, etc. Many of the local groups have established a telephone service where voluntary workers offer to give elderly people a daily call to check if the persons are allright and if there is anything that needs to be done. In addition, there is a wide variety of health-promoting activities such as sports or workout specially for the elderly. It is also possible for elderly people with reduced mobility to get special physical maintenance training in their home. In order to stimulate intellectual skills, volunteers establish various memory workshops where elderly people process their own history in story-telling or creative writing workshops. These activities are also carried out in nursing homes for people with dementia in collaboration with the staff. Computer Cafés are another great success. In order to enable elderly people to understand and use information technology, the Danish Association of Senior Citizens and the Danish Ministry of Information Technology and Research established three computer rooms in collaboration with the local authorities in January 1998. Over the past four years, the number has grown to 55 computer cafés all over the country. Here, elderly people are trained in the use of information technology and computers. The training is specially developed for elderly people. In connection with this project the Danish Association of Senior Citizens has had a bus fitted up as a classroom with 10 computers. The bus functions as a mobile computer café and is used in areas where a permanent computer café has not yet been established. We help seniors in the rural districts concerning their particular life conditions working in study groups analyzing and elaborating alternative suggestions to a better policy in these regions of the county. We work with senior sports in order to strengthen their physical abilities and thus maintain a healthy life as long as possible. We work with housing of seniors; a popular way, for example, is building of housing communities, so people going to live there will be involved in planning and architecture of their future homes. Furthermore we offer our members courses, high school stays, journies and cultural arrangements. In addition, we carry out various development projects with the purpose of pointing out constructive opportunities and solutions to improve the quality of life of elderly people. The principle of "Seniors assisting Seniors" is that: Volunteers often tell about the pleasure they feel when they the first time realize that their effort is a mutual experience: by giving pleasure to others we get pleasure ourselves · growing personally and getting new competencies, · participants make a voluntary effort aimed at weak elderly people, · no special skills are required to participate, · participating in and being part of a new network, · participation is based on reciprocity, · participation should be cost free, · and by having an influence on their own lives, options and dignity.
Secretariat of the Danish Association of Senior Citizens SUOMISVEJ 3 - 1927 FREDERIKSBERG C Tel: +45 35 35 26 99 Fax: +45 35 35 26 24 www.aeldremobiliseringen.dk Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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