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Older People for Older People 1.4 (O4O)
Start date: Dec 31, 2007, End date: Dec 30, 2010 PROJECT  FINISHED 

O4O will utilise the capacity of older people as community assets, applying their skills to provide services that will help maintain other older people in their communities. O4O will: map the context; identify new opportunities for providing locally-relevant services; test the feasibility of innovative organisational models; develop a toolkit to develop O4O organisations transnationally; evaluate impacts on individuals, communities and institutions; inform policy and practice on involving older people in service provision to older people. Achievements: Work Package 2: Context Mapping. The first and second context maps have been completed. The third context map template is focussing on social enterprise as a result of what has been learned from the first two maps. Context maps allow international comparison on a range of subjects which impact on the lives of older people in the peripheral areas of Northern Europe. These include comparison of regional and national policies, pension income comparison, and the nature and level of support for starting up new community based social enterprises. Work Package 3: O4O Implementation. In Highland, four communities are working on separate services for older people. One community is developing a range of transport services for people in their remote rural community. Two services have been already been established; a lift sharing scheme and a community care scheme. Older people have increased access to medical and dental services and can be more socially and economically active as a result of the services. The community in another remote and rural area are investigating ways to secure and improve future service provision and a models for delivering support to older people in rural areas when they are no longer able to stay in their own homes. They propose to develop a community care hub from which a range of social, specialist, and support services can be provided. The community in South West Ross is developing a neighbourly helping services using volunteers from each township. By providing support with basic household tasks, such as changing a light bulb, the community will help to maintain the independent living of their older people. In another village, a group of older people have undertaken an oral history project. They are interviewing other older people in the village about their early memories and what life was like when they were young. Interviews are filmed and the group will make DVDs using the footage. One introductory DVD has been produced already. The sense of place from the oral history project is part of a number of other community development initiatives in the village which hope to develop community assets to deliver services to their citizens. In Northern Ireland communities are developing services in a post conflict context. The community in Mid Ulster are running social events and creative activities in groups. They hope to develop their facilities to start a shop and a meal delivery services for housebound and frail elderly. Widows whose husbands died in the conflict are working together in another community to improve their building with a view to developing catering services. In rural seaboard towns, a community radio station is being developed. This will provide information and help to reduce isolation of the elderly people in the region. In Sweden, a range of services are being implemented and developed. Between 40 and 50 elderly people have begun a programme of IT education including bill paying and social networking. This will lead to improved access to information about local services and social activities. A voluntary services is being developed by another community. A grocery delivery service is underway and a meeting place for information and social activities is being developed. A 3 year plan involving a mix of intergenerational voluntary activities and the development of assets is the ambitious plan of another community. The project called a 'health gallery' will be based at a community run school where older people and school children will share resources and support each other. In Finland, two villages are involved with O4O. The first village is developing a meeting place for elderly people while the second village is developing intergenerational activities. Students from the local University of Applied Science are working with local project staff to develop these services. In Greenland, a large scale community needs assessment survey has been undertaken which will, for the first time, allow older people in some of the remotest communities in the world to give their views about what life is like for them and how it could be improved. Community fishing boats and social activities have been identified as possible services to develop. Work Package 4: Toolkit. Partners are working together to draw on the knowledge and experience of project staff and the communities they are working with. A framework for the toolkit has been developed and work is currently taking place to produce a draft version which will be tested prior to the end of the project. Partners will meet in Finland in January 2010 to work together on the Toolkit. Work Package 5: Evaluation. An evaluation map has been drawn up to establish evaluation activity across the project. This will detail which common tools have been used and where partners can learn from regional and local practice. Surveys of 2,400 older people have been undertaken already but this process will continue throughout the project allowing for transnational comparison over the project period. The survey results are being analysed and findings will be reported. Other evaluation work includes interviews and analysis of service costs. Products and services:Title: T4T: Transport for Tongue, Melness & Skerray A transport service for a remote and rural areas run by the community, involving elder citizens as volunteers. It provides a range of community transport services: a volunteer car scheme and lift sharing, a community car service, and a minibus hire service for people with limited or no access to personal transport for them to access services, including health services, and to remain socially and economically active.More information see: http://nppoutcomes.eu/Title: Tailored IT education courses for older people Free of charge IT courses for the elderly to increase their understanding of how to use a PC and the Internet in daily life to perform different tasks, like paying bills and placing orders and to help reduce loneliness through the use of social media.More information see: http://nppoutcomes.eu/Title: Jamton – Safe and Caring Village Meeting Place A meeting place initiated and owned by elderly people, in cooperation with the local grocery store, for older people to meet, get internet access and informal support on how to use the computer.More information see: http://nppoutcomes.eu/Title: Jamton – Safe and Caring Village Visiting and Delivery Service (Village Handyman Service) A delivery service for delivering groceries, collecting medicines from the pharmacy and taking recycling to collection points for elderly people, especially those who are frail, who have mobility issues, or who have limited access to transport, to increase the amount of social contact and interaction for elderly people in the village and to provide informal support and monitoring of frail older people. The service is delivered by volunteers, including other older people, and by one local employee. More information see: http://nppoutcomes.eu/Title: Opportunities for Older People - Cookstown: Information & Rights Drop-in Centre The O4O Cookstown drop-in centre provides older people with both phone-in or on-site accessible information, clarification and signposting onto other service providers relating to their rights and entitlements, and services within their locale. The centre hosts weekly surgeries which are facilitated by a variety of invited organisations dealing with benefits, health and wellbeing of older people, and community and residential safety and facilitated talks by representatives from local government departments, social services agencies and utility providers.More information see: http://nppoutcomes.eu/Title: Opportunities for Older People Cookstown: Lunch Club, Restaurant & Meals Delivery O4O Cookstown's Lunch Club provides a home-cooked lunchtime meal using locally sourced produce. Some of the produce comes from the garden of an older person who no Ionger manages to maintain it but wanted it to be used for the benefit of other older people. The Lunch Club is housed in a converted public house and provides its service users with the option to take part in a number of social activities on-site, including craft classes and discussions/talks.More information see: http://nppoutcomes.eu/Title: Training courses for volunteering among the elderly Educational courses on volunteering among the elderly organised and financed in collaboration with local NGOs and social and health authorities.More information see: http://nppoutcomes.eu/Title: Community Care Centre Assynt A social enterprise which took over the running of a centre which the local authority planned to close down and which was previously used for a range of local authority elderly services. The centre provides a 'lunch club' and transport services for users of the centre and aims to serves as a hub for support for older people. Activities are provided by staff, volunteers and various visitors or agencies.More information see: http://nppoutcomes.eu/, http://www.communitycareassynt.org.ukTitle: Meeting centre for seniors A meeting place for seniors is located in the village of Niemisel and launched in the existing school restaurant provides a place to meet, participate in activities and eat lunch together.More information see: http://nppoutcomes.eu/Title: Pupils and Seniors Inter-generational meetings between pupils and elderly people where pupils help out with simple services such as transporting waste for recycling, cleaning, and baking and elderly volunteer in school, for instance, by helping with homework, talking about history and participating in crafts etc.More information see: http://nppoutcomes.eu/Title: Needlework and Traditional Crafts Needlework and traditional craft groups were established in 5 communities to bring older people together and encourage them to take up craftwork. A market for the products was developed so that older people could generate revenue from the sales of their craftwork.More information see: http://nppoutcomes.eu/Title: Home visiting service Mobile older people visit housebound older people in their community to reduce isolation of older people with poor mobility in rural Greenlandic communities.More information see: http://nppoutcomes.eu/Title: Activities, Gym and Fitness Groups Groups developed organising a range of activities includes: reading, painting, board games and cards, singing and dancing in response to the wishes of local older people. In some communities, transport was provided so that older people could attend the groups.More information see: http://nppoutcomes.eu/Title: Cuan FM (Community slots) Dedicated one-hour information broadcasts about Housing, Health, Arts, Participation, Volunteering, Education and Environment are recorded, produced and broadcast by older people who have received recording, interviewing and technical skills.More information see: http://nppoutcomes.eu/, http://www.cuanfm.co.uk/index.htmlTitle: O4O Toolkit Guidance gathering information and learning from the O4O project to enable other individuals and groups of older people to start O4O-type services and products.More information see: http://nppoutcomes.eu/, http://www.o4os.eu

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  • 59.3%   1 260 099,00
  • 2007 - 2013 Northern Periphery
  • Project on KEEP Platform
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