Summary
This is a series of three projects originally for immigrants, pensioners, and retirees of the Venezuelan social security system. The Path of the Great, Immigrants Generating Value, and Senior Immigrants Following Our Path share the objectives: 1) Promote the defense, preservation, and protection of the rights of older immigrants; 2) Ensure older immigrants live and age with dignity through activities in different areas of their interest; 3) Increase interpersonal relationships of older immigrants with people of different ages; 4) Promote employment and volunteering to improve the economic situation of older immigrants, promoting senior talent that exists in the group of older immigrants; 5) Defend, preserve, and claim the participants' rights in health, housing, social assistance, and pensions to avoid falling into social exclusion; 6) Promote living and aging with dignity, taking care of emotional, physical, intellectual, and relational aspects to guarantee active aging and continuous training; 7) Prevent loneliness and isolation through intergenerational coexistence, transmitting legacy and knowledge, social inclusion, and improving quality of life; 8) Raise public awareness of the respectful treatment of older people regardless of their origin; 9) Consolidate groups of senior volunteers and mentors to support the initiatives of the organization and its allied entities. The activities performed to carry these objectives were seminars and training in different areas: technology, languages, emotional therapies, job seeking, social gatherings to meet local people, advice on receiving help from governmental plans for medical attention, financial help, and housing from Spanish social security.
Planning and Implementation
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What was the challenge you were trying to address?
The challenges to address are: 1) Improve the economic autonomy of older immigrants in Catalonia, mainly of Latin American origin, over 60 years of age; 2) Access to affordable housing through our real estate consulting service; 3) Integration into existing programs: The lack of knowledge and fear of being rejected in existing programs require strengthening alliances with centers of activities and public and private entities for disseminating these programs and achieving active incorporation of older immigrants; 4) Participate in Social Volunteering: The dissemination of the importance of social volunteering and mentoring as a way to avoid isolation and transmit legacy. Strengthening this aspect through partnerships with programs, entities, schools, and startups have allowed us to take advantage of our participants' wealth of knowledge.
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Who were you trying to impact?
Older people in general, Older people with vulnerabilities
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What sectors were you targeting?
Education, Health, Housing, Information and Communication, Labour, Social protection, Transportation
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Who else was involved?
Government, Civil Society Organization, Social Care, Private Sector
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How did older people participate?
Older people were part of the process at multiple or all stages
Lessons learned
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Please describe how collaboration worked in your initiative.
Our programs have been carried out in partnership with CATNOVA, an association with extensive experience in counseling, guidance, accompaniment, support, and direct attention to vulnerable people, especially migrants, women and the elderly, victims of gender violence, the disabled, and long-term unemployed. It promotes occupational inclusion, social-cultural integration, and the integral development of the most vulnerable population while promoting the active collaboration of the different actors in society. We have received advice from the Babel Foundation - Meeting Point - an association that provides tools to people in vulnerable situations to achieve a dignified life. We have received support from the Consell Assessor de Gent Gran de Barcelona, Consell Municipal de Immigració de Barcelona, Latin American Consulates, PROVITA Internacional, SAVIA Program, VAE, Vincle Barcelona, Espais de Gent Gran de Barcelona, FATEC, Tunstall Televida, Fundació d'Envellimet Actiu de la UB, Fundació Mes Humá and particularly we have received financing and support from Fundació La Caixa.
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What was the impact of your initiative on older people, their families, and/or their communities?
The results of the activities of the series of projects up to June 2022 were: Participation of 80 adults over 60 years old in different activities of the projects; 120 participants were advised by our advisory and pension service; 52 participants were advised in the real estate area; 50 seniors offered services or products to be promoted in CATNOVASTORE (online store); 39 participants over 60 completed an entire administrative, communications, and computer skills training cycle. The total program consisted of a total of 125 hours; A significant impact of our projects has been the accomplishment of governmental financial aid for 255 participants and advised, which has amounted to 1,237,500 euros.
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What issues did you face, and how did you address them?
Throughout the program, we encountered several problems. During the pandemic, as this is a high-risk group, the COVID-19 situation forced us to change most activities from face-to-face to online, which required accelerated communication technology training so the beneficiaries could attend the activities. The critical emotional situation of the beneficiaries, as older people who migrated due to the situation in their country of origin, leaving all their belongings behind and losing their physical, relational, and economic self-sufficiency. They went from autonomous to living with relatives; many reported that the roles were reversed, and their children became their parents. From an economic point of view, they have no income, cannot get a job, and depend economically on their relatives. We provided emotional assistance and encouraged them to continue with our online programs to make them feel they had a peer group and were not alone in their situation. Discrimination in the employment search, despite being very prepared people, many with university level education, ageism prevents them from getting a paid job. Another barrier is the language. They do not speak Catalan, which represents a barrier to being selected for a job offer. Need to get social networking, they left their friends, and their memories, activities. Integration routes were carried out to allow them to know their new place of reference and make friends.
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What lessons did you learn from implementing this initiative?
From the Beneficiary's point of view: loyalty, adaptability, and willingness to pass on the legacy of older migrants: In 2019 we initiated projects to increase the quality of life and integration of older migrants into their new place of residence. 60% of the initial participants are still part of the program. In many cases, word of mouth is the source of attracting new beneficiaries. Their adaptability to change, for example, they have to learn a new tool to continue in the project, they do so with enthusiasm. The willingness to pass on their legacy of knowledge to others is in their DNA. To other generations they pass this legacy through intercultural projects and to their peer group through activities as trainers in their areas of expertise. The seniors in this program are the protagonists. Our learning: to maximize their participation in the different stages of the project and the entities act as dynamics to achieve objectives. The importance of collaborative work: Establishing partnerships and agreements with the public and private sectors strengthened a network. That allows us to give the project greater sustainability over time and make it replicable in other cities where there is a group of immigrants over 60 years old.
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Do you have any other reflections you would like to share?
Importance of personal networking in their new residence: older immigrants need new friends to have a social network outside the circle of children and grandchildren. They need telephone or face-to-face follow-up to help their emotional stability, avoid unwanted loneliness, and create a sense of belonging with the entities caring for them. Promote a healthy life from the physical, nutritional, and emotional point of view that allows them to be more independent throughout this new phase: Aging must be active.