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The inaugural meeting of the partnerswas held in Paphos/Cyprus, November 8 - 11, 2011.
The partners presented their organizations, and their usual functions. They had the chance to present the situation of marginalized elders in their countries. The most common definition on Marginalization was the social process of becoming or being made marginal as a group within the larger society. We have discovered that there are many similarities on the causes that put elders at the margins of the society. Low educational background, low access to programs and services, health conditions, communication problems, institutionalization and low interpersonal relations, low socioeconomic status or lack of material resources are among the key factors that can cause marginalization on elders.
Some partners demonstrated interesting statistics and paid particular attention in situations in cities like Berlin, where a large number of immigrant elders live. That enriched our perspectives and demonstrated the different methods and approaches that can be used in other countries due to their particular situation.
In Spain, emphasis is given on the improvement of the physical state of elders, which can have a positive impact on their mental health. Moreover, the partner demonstrated photos of ”Play Grounds” for elders, where in public places they can use exercise equipment to improve their physical condition (see an article in Spanish language with pictures in Documents).
The German partners will undertake to create the website and logo of the project after they receive relevant material from other partners within a month. Each country will create its own printing material regarding the project. The Romanian partners will evaluate each meeting at the end of every session and before the reports. Each partner will undertake a course of action based on its own capacity and will provide information as a part of the best practice guide. An important question that dominated the afternoon session was the structure of the proposed guide.
In the next day the partners discussed about the structure of the guide. Six draft chapters were agreed at this stage, where they can be enriched and expanded with input from all partners. The quality of the work in the guide will be ensured, while it will not be an academic output. Partners should read relevant literature and be best prepared at least a month before the meeting in Germany. They should circulate through email the content of the first 2 chapters where the content will be agreed and finalized at the meeting in Germany. Moreover, the partners should be prepared to discuss the next chapter which will also be discussed.
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