If the project 80+ did not exist, we should invent it
Rome, October 2015
Dušana Findeisen, Slovenian Third Age Universit, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Valuing and valorising the knowledge and skills of people 80+ is one of the best projects I have come across in the last years. I owe it to my friendship with Sergio Andreis, an Italian researcher.
The number of those who are older than eighty is getting higher. In studies, policies, public awareness the image of older people easily gets split into two parts. The first part or group of older people are those under the age of seventy. They are given credit of being able to contribute to community. They are expected to be baby sitting, volunteering, less often being employed, having a paid job. They are considered as a social resource, those who can make us a present of their time, money, even knowledge.
On the other hand, there are those over 80 years of age, who are being considered as passive, needing help and entertainment. Moreover, those who are older than 80 are rarely a topic of research studies and general public gets aware of their social existence only when they are members of civil societies. They are active in societies because they want to keep themselves healthy, physically and mentally healthy, they want to be autonomous and integrated. To be recognized, to be useful is a source of satisfaction for anybody notwithstanding their age. When people over 80 are expected to be active, there are positive cognitive effects.
The authors of the project 80+ have tackled a real and urgent social issue. They are preparing a handbook for those who work with people at advanced age. (Reference: Sergio Andreis in a private letter to Dušana Findeisen the author of this article). More: http://www.act-80plus.eu