Summary
Within the SHAI program, funded by the EU and implemented by UNOPS in Serbia, UNFPA Country Office Serbia implemented a project on supporting older persons’ access to services during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. The specific objectives of the project were: i) provide support to the most vulnerable groups among older persons (OP) to understand and access their rights and needs ii) provide capacity support to local institutions and organizations to understand and better respond to the needs of OP. The following activities were implemented: Promotion of active participation of older people: Intergenerational workshops were organized with older and young persons in six municipalities in Serbia to discuss intergenerational cooperation, healthy aging, the life course approach, elder abuse and violence towards OP. COVID-19 related winterization: 500 vulnerable older households were provided with family hygiene parcels to protect their health. Capacity building of Red Cross branches to implement healthy aging programs: To support preventative activities and enable healthy aging, capacities of local Red Cross branches were built to implement healthy aging programs. Subsequently, regular programs for OP were implemented on physical and psychological well-being. Increase in digital literacy of OP living in rural areas and in long-term care facilities: OP in rural areas were provided with mobile phones, and training sessions were conducted for their usage. In long-term care facilities, training sessions were conducted with the residents on how to use IT devices. Video tutorials created by UNFPA CO Serbia for using the most common communication platforms were used.
Planning and Implementation
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What was the challenge you were trying to address?
Older persons in Serbia face several challenges in access to services such as health and social care services, but also supply, transport, etc. The COVID-19 crisis and its impact disrupted nearly all aspects of life for all groups of society. A Socio-Economic Impact Assessment done by UNCT Serbia confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic and measures introduced to curb the virus spread disproportionately affected older generations and vulnerable groups. The impact of COVID-19 on older persons also brought increased risk and challenges. Older persons living alone in rural areas faced barriers in obtaining accurate information, food, hygiene items, medications, and other essential supplies and services. When implementing recovery actions, strong recommendations were made to focus on vulnerable groups, such as older persons. Therefore, the implemented activities by UNFPA CO Serbia focused on recovery actions for supporting the inclusion and empowerment of older persons by improving their availability to health, education, and welfare services by removing barriers during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. The COVID-19 crisis also highlighted a digital divide, as some groups of Serbia’s population have been unable to participate in the innovative change to working and living and the leveraging of various IT technologies through the crisis.
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Who were you trying to impact?
Older people in general, Both older and younger people
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What sectors were you targeting?
Education, Health, Information and Communication, Long-term care, Social protection
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Who else was involved?
Government, Civil Society Organization, Older People's Association, Health Care, Social Care, Private Sector
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How did older people participate?
Older people helped to implement the project
Lessons learned
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Please describe how collaboration worked in your initiative.
Close collaboration was made with six local Red Cross branches in Serbia at the designated project areas to implement healthy aging activities. Red Cross local coordinators' capacity building was conducted to provide them with the necessary tools and guidance for engaging with the concept of healthy aging. They were introduced to the basic facts and misconceptions about aging and got training in the activities designed for older persons. The local Red Cross branches also collaborated with local stakeholders to engage them in healthy aging sessions with older persons. For example, in Kragujevac, medical doctors provided lectures and discussions on healthy eating and in Subotica Centers for health promotion of the Public Health Institution was also engaged for medical examination. Moreover, in Uzice, one of the sessions included the Decade of Healthy Ageing concept, 10 facts and misconceptions about aging, as well as a wide variety of life topics, such as food preparation, sharing recipes and other household chores, and sports. The Public Library in Zajecar was engaged for lectures and all participants included in the healthy aging programme became members of the library. In the local branch of Sombor, the Association of Pensioners was involved in providing lectures on healthy and active aging topics. During the healthy aging sessions in Boljevac, the participants also talked about different topics that interested them, including preparing food and reading poems and stories they wrote themselves.
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What was the impact of your initiative on older people, their families, and/or their communities?
Older persons became aware of their rights, available support, and opportunities to protect their physical and mental health and improve their social inclusion during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. They had improved access to health services thanks to better capacities of the six local Red Cross branches in the responding municipalities. They also had improved digital literacy skills and practical and institutional barriers through improving availability and access to health, education, and social welfare services. The project also had an impact on the local community in which local branches of the Red Cross were strengthened. Also, the activity on intergenerational exchange removed barriers between generations and strengthened solidarity, which positively impacted the whole community. Moreover, an added value of the project was the improved understanding and enhanced capacities of local actors to prioritize activities that promote active inclusion, intergenerational cooperation, and exchange and improve the status of older persons within their local communities.
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What issues did you face, and how did you address them?
A slight delay in the implementation of the procurement activity was generated due to the combination of the following three factors: i/ more time needed for the municipalities to consolidate precise distribution lists, ii/ problems with access due to heavy snow and difficult access to remote areas and iii/ political dynamics in the country. Close cooperation with the local stakeholders and the Red Cross ensured successful solutions to overcome the challenges. Likewise, COVID-19 concerns were dictating both the pacing of the sessions as well as the number of participants in some cases. To address this challenge, UNFPA CO Serbia provided protective gear to participants, the Red Cross staff, and volunteers involved in the implementations. We also made the overall pacing, as well as the contents of the healthy aging sessions in the selected communities, open to different groups, depending on the local resources available and the COVID-19 situation in every individual community.
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What lessons did you learn from implementing this initiative?
1) The need to always consider and target those left behind since they are the most vulnerable and in need. In the case of Serbia, older persons living alone in rural areas are a vulnerable group of older persons specifically targeted throughout the project. For example, older persons living in rural areas live far away from shops that might provide necessary supplies such as hygiene articles. It was a tangible benefit to deliver products to their doorstep. 2) We also learned the added benefit of not only focusing on physical health but to have a more comprehensive understanding of healthy aging and thus also incorporating psychological health. The healthy aging session, therefore, integrated both psychological and physical activities. 3) In relation to the digital literacy activities, we learned that it is important to engage and train the personnel at public nursing homes in order to ensure the sustainability of the training sessions and the use of digital tools.
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Do you have any other reflections you would like to share?
The need to make healthy aging activities tailor-made to older persons' physical and mental capacities as well as their daily schedules and routine.