Multicultural volunteering for neighbourly help (Multikulturelles Ehrenamt in der Nachbarschaftshilfe)

Transcription

1 ELAC for migrant elders Actice Ageing and Empowerment of Migrant Elders Multicultural volunteering for neighbourly help (Multikulturelles Ehrenamt in der Nachbarschaftshilfe) Referent: Dipl. Soz.Wiss. Reinhard Pohlmann Stadt Dortmund Bereichsleiter für f r Seniorenarbeit

2 1. How do migrant elders participate in your project? - Members of the round table in the district - - Learning some basics about the local help system for elderly people Involved in the coordination for the visit service - Reflection meetings Sozialamt Dortmund - FD für Senioren 2

3 2. What is the impact of the project on migrant elders, are there any opinions or testimonies? - it is easier to obtain acceptance to elderly migrants in interaction with compatriots and with the same life story - more inquiries of elderly migrants in the last month for having support for activities of daily living in the office for senior citizens (Seniorenbüro) and also for helping each other between old and young people - it is not only the focus of care for elderly migrants, it has also an impact of participation of daily life in the community of the district (more quality of daily life) - more support for the carers at home Sozialamt Dortmund - FD für Senioren 3

4 3. Are there further projects following your project? What are the project outcomes and how are they measured? - from January 2011 we will start the same project idea in other districts of Dortmund supported by the 12 Seniorenbüros Outcomes: - to get a better contact to migrant families with elderly people with the target to find the accesses to the local help system for there old people - to find more appreciation by the local policymaker for the special support for migrant elder people - in the annual report of the department for elderly people of the city of Dortmund we describe the statistics of all projects Sozialamt Dortmund - FD für Senioren 4

5 4. Is the project linked to a strategy? - Yes, it is a part of the long term strategy of the demographic change in Dortmund with a special focus on the increasing population of elderly people - Yes, our mayor proclaimed a year of volunteer work in 2011 and the city will support this intension with special events OB U. Sierau: 2011 wird ein Jahr des Dialogs. Dortmund wird zur Bürgerkommune. Dazu gehörte der Integrationskongress am 15. März Die Ombudsstelle für Bürgerinitiativen nimmt ihre Arbeit auf. Die Koordinierungsstelle für Schwule, Lesben und Transidente startet ebenfalls und trägt dazu bei, dass Dortmund als eine weltoffene und tolerante Stadt für alle Lebensentwürfe attraktiv wird. Die Europäische Union hat 2011 zum "Jahr der Freiwilligen Arbeit" ausgerufen. Dortmund ist eine engagementfreundliche Stadt. Das will ich weiter fördern.

6 5. Are you in contact with other local authorities in relation to the project? Is there the wish for exchange or cooperation? - Dortmund was already a participant of the EU project SEEM (services for elders from ethnic minorities 2004 till 2006) together with other cities in Europe (e.g. Leeds, Lille, Bucharest, Göteborg). Together with a advisory expert will like to continue our exchange of experiences in this case with our twin city Leeds - I am a speaker of the association of the Seniorenbüros in NRW (LaS) and we can disseminate the idea in 70 Seniorenbüros in NRW - as a representative of the social directors of the 16 big cities of Germany I am a member of a working group Long term care of the European Social Network (ESN) in Brighton (UK). This is also a good platform to disseminate the project idea

7 6. How is your project funded? - the expenses to provide the Seniorenbüros are funded by the city of Dortmund. With this budget we support projects to develop volunteering - the welfare organisations cover the costs for the meetings (coffee, tea, cakes) and they are responsible for the accident insurance

8 7. How are migrant elders involved in the decisionmaking in the local authority beyond the project? - in the Integrationsrat of the city of Dortmund (in the past the so called Ausländerbeirat)

9 8. Do other services in the local authority learn from the project? - yes, the Seniorenbüros collaborate with the Familienbüros of the city in all districts and since 3 years with the so called Aktionsbüros which are working in special social areas to support people with there special problems independent from the age (Action plan Social City)

10 9. What is the political backing for the project? - the policy for better integration and to give support for better access to the local proposals in all respects of living in Dortmund (cultural, political participation, etc.) for migrant people is along term policy target. - In the Nordstadt-district we made a lot of combined efforts to achieve those aims. Dortmund must and will go this way sustainable. - The project is one of this strategy.

11 10. Should we talk about culturally appropriate" services rather than culturally sensitive services? - I think it is more a culturally sensitive service, because there are a lot of issues we German have to regard and to respect. Apart from that we don t have the realistic change to find the best way for accesses especially for the elderly migrants.

12 11. Do migrant elders need to learn the host language; are language courses needed? - it is not fair to demand from the old Turkish grandma to learn German after such a long time living in Dortmund for 20 years or more. Especially if she is not able to read and write in her mother language. On the other hand it is always a good idea to offer them learning groups in day care centers together with elderly Germans. We practice this with a group of elderly Russians in a day care center in Dortmund with success.

13 12. What is the strategy for sustainibiltiy of the project? - To guide the group by the Seniorenbüros - To discuss problems of the visits in continuous reflections in the group or individual - To report about the good practice in the city council and the district council - to appreciate the volunteers in official performances

14 Thank you for your attention Sozialamt Dortmund - FD für Senioren 14