Active aging in nursing homes: a transformative strategy
With the social commitment and the clear objective of recovering and promoting the role of the elderly in society, Savia residencias has been developing throughout its history volunteer actions that impact positively internally on residents, promoting their active aging, and externally in a generalized way in society.
With the idea of bringing the centers closer to the environment and with an open-door philosophy, in 2023 it was proposed to design, with the support of Volies, a Strategy of social commitment and corporate volunteering that integrating all the centers, would build a proposal of transforming volunteering, with real impact on the lives of residents and their environment, balancing in a transversal way the needs and aspirations of residents, with the resources and capabilities, putting in value all the road already traveled.
Corporate volunteering that promotes active aging
In 2024 we began the implementation of this strategy, developing key actions for its implementation throughout Savia, such as the creation of the Volunteering Committee and the implementation of the team of Volunteering Ambassadors, with a representative from each of the 22 centers that Savia has in the Valencian Community, an indispensable figure that promotes and ensures the extension of the culture of social and community commitment generated in each of its centers.
A strategy that aims to promote, plan and develop activities and projects that are sustainable over time, framed in a two-way volunteering model: to the residents from the community, and from the residents to the community, promoting active and healthy aging.
Active seniors: from care recipients to community actors
This strategy has come to strengthen, on the one hand, the links with the community and the involvement of society in the centers, with residents receiving the accompaniment and involvement of volunteers from companies, social organizations, public and private institutions, local associations or educational centers, who collaborate to improve their daily lives and quality of life.
But in a pioneering way within this strategy, Savia and Volies have proposed to promote volunteering of residents, thus promoting this approach to active aging where active seniors are placed at the center of the strategy, strengthening relationships with the community and generating a social impact that also improves their well-being and self-esteem.
To this end, three lines of volunteering are being carried out in this direction.
Residents accompanying residents
Firstly, actions are developed to encourage the participation of residents in welcoming new colleagues as “host residents”, in addition to listening and support activities for residents with greater cognitive impairment.
Active aging through intergenerational volunteerism
Inspirational Resident
The second of the typologies developed has been to encourage the resident’s participation as an active part in intergenerational and mentoring actions, putting at the service of young people their experience in professions, arts or trades, through workshops on home economics, gardening, cooking, music, electricity, entrepreneurship, among others.
This in high schools, vocational training centers, social organizations with young people in youth guarantee or second chances and universities. Other projects focus on life comics or dialogical discussions, or “Care Cooking”, in which they transmit values and knowledge.
Resident volunteers in solidarity activities
Finally, the centers promote the participation of residents in solidarity actions to raise funds and support social organizations such as Red Cross, Association Against Cancer, City Councils, Caritas, charity markets, etc.
In addition, we promote the creation of souvenirs or gifts to sell in these solidarity markets, and also to give to colleagues, visitors and / or workers, actions that improve cognitive work and the development of skills with a concrete and solidary utility.
On the other hand, some residents participate in the performance of some of the daily tasks of the center such as gardening, leisure activities or support in the dining room, actions that reinforce their sense of belonging and actively contribute to the care of their house, in short, of their home.
Participación de los mayores a través de la innovación social
Community protagonism and local transformation is also very present in the daily life of the residents. One of the proposals highlighted in this line is the World Coffe, an initiative of co-creation and collective work that has been carried out in several centers such as Savia Paiporta, Cheste, Moncófar and San Antonio de Benagéber.
This methodology, adapted and facilitated by Volies, involves meetings with key players in the community that promote networking, collective construction and connection with the community.
It is a work of ideation and joint action between residents and social organizations, public and private, schools, municipalities and various social agents in the area of influence of the residence.
Listening directly to the needs, wishes and expectations of the elderly. And putting into practice community action proposals adapted to their real needs.
From beneficiaries to active volunteers
In conclusion, the strategy carried out together with Savia Residencias involves a model of volunteering that breaks with the traditional view of the residence as a passive or isolated place.
In this model, the elderly are no longer the exclusive recipients of care and volunteer actions, but active subjects who participate, propose, teach, live together, express themselves and, above all, are listened to.
A strategy that has shown the clear real impact on the elderly of exercising this active role and, in turn, the necessary social involvement of the community as a key factor for a full life of people living in nursing homes.
