SARAJEVO, NOVEMBER 9 (ONASA) – The structure of the Red Cross Society/cross of BiH has been implementing and developing the “Aging and Health” project with the support of the Swiss Red Cross for 10 years.
The goal is to improve the health and well-being of our fellow citizens of the golden age, through active participation in creating an environment adapted to the elderly and lobbying for their needs.
The project consists of two components: care and help at home and active and healthy sleep.
The home care and assistance program enables the elderly to stay in their own homes, reducing physical pain, social isolation and promoting a dignified life. The developed model complements the medical services provided in health centers, and is extremely well received in local communities.
– Although the care and help in the home that is provided through this program does not have the elements of a health service, it is also relevant in terms of prevention, health preservation, mental health preservation and relieving the burden on the health care system, which would not have the capacity to independently in any way respond to this need of the elderly in Bosnia and Herzegovina. That is why it is important to act further, establish cooperation with policy makers in the competent ministries, replicate knowledge and serve as an example of good practice to others, pointed out the general secretary of the Red Cross Society of Bosnia and Herzegovina Namik Hodžić.
This program is currently implemented in 10 cities in BiH (Tuzla, Živinice, Lukavac, Kalesija, Žepče, Šamac, Doboj, Prnjavor, Foča and Brčko district of BiH).
– In the period from 2013, 386,625 home visits were carried out for more than 2,800 users. The program currently employs 67 professional caregivers and 59 volunteers. Also, simultaneously with the development of care and assistance in the home, a course for caregivers was developed in cooperation with the Red Cross of the Tuzla Canton. With this training, the Tuzla Canton Red Cross Education Center has become recognizable not only in the Tuzla Canton, but also throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. So far, 15 training cycles for caregivers have been organized in this center, which were successfully completed by 248 participants, said Mihela Hinić, head of the Delegation of the Swiss Red Cross/Cross in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Since 2017, in addition to the Swiss Red Cross and the participation of users, the project has been co-financed by local self-government units, and since 2020, the “Aging and Health” project has been supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
– Switzerland supports the project “Aging and Health” not only because it is extremely important for a country whose population is getting older, but also because it is an innovative project. The project applies a model of home care, similar to the one in Switzerland, which enables the elderly to be active even after retirement and to remain in their homes even at an advanced age and have a good quality of life, said Siroco Messerli, director of cooperation at the Embassy of Switzerland in Bosnia and Herzegovina. .
At the same time, the active healthy aging program is a response to changes in modern society, creates preconditions and helps older people to cope with and adapt to the changes resulting from old age. Members of active healthy aging groups recognize the health effects, including mental health, improved skills and reduced isolation, through increased activity of older people in local communities. Through the approach of active healthy aging, we are working with local authorities to recognize the fact that the population is aging, and that older people can influence the creation of policies and the adoption of strategic documents to improve the position of people of the third age.
In the past 10 years, 65 local communities with the current 1825 group members have been included in the active healthy aging program.
Thousands of activities were carried out in which more than 12,000 people participated.
The “Aging and Health” program is based on a partnership between local Red Cross organizations and the local community, and as such has the potential to be an example to other regions and to enable changes in the health and social care system in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Precisely because of this, a two-day conference “Red Cross/Cross in the Community – Solidarity and togetherness in providing care and help at home and in healthy aging activities” is underway in Sarajevo, which brings together more than 150 people from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Croatia.