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Description
The project is a response to an incident that occurred in September, when a high school student engaged in violence against the elderly while working at the Trebnje Senior Citizens'' Home and shared videos of the incidents on the social network TikTok. The videos brought attention to the issue of elder abuse in the public eye, providing an opportunity for a communication and awareness campaign to support the rights of the elderly. The project will address this challenge with: 1. Organizing an exhibition of portrait photographs of the elderly, prepared by young people (photography students) in collaboration with the elderly. The event will also include anexpert lecture on the rights of the elderly. Conducting educational workshop and conversations for both young people and the elderly as preparation for the exhibition. The media will be invited to the event. 2. Creating a virtual exhibition of portrait photographs of the elderly for young people and the wider public. During the event, a mobile application for aging selfies, which can be shared on social networks, will be launched.3. Changes in the percentage of the target group (young people) who do not approve of elder abuse and are concerned about the rights of the elderly will be monitored through surveys. The primary target groups are young people and the elderly, with the wider public as the secondary target group. Young people will be co-creators of the message and recipients of the message, hence benefiting from the project. The portraits will NOT depict them as powerless individuals but as individuals deserving of respect, thus countering the negative image of ld age presented in the incident and contributing to a better public understanding of aging. Violence is prevented by promoting social equality, respect, and an understanding of diversity. The project will be implemented by the Cotravellers Institute in partnership with the Sežana College.
Summary of project results
Our goal was to spread a positive image of aging among young people, as we hope that the value of solidarity will be embodied in the future when today''s youth become active working members of the society in which we live. The project was also inspired by an incident in one of the nursing homes in Slovenia where a high school student, while doing a student job, engaged in violence against the elderly; it was a wake-up call that due to generational gaps, the practice of respecting the elderly and genuine care for the vulnerable was disappearing among young people.
We prepared an exhibition of photographic portraits of the elderly, bringing to the forefront their beauty, diversity, joy, life wisdom, and experiences. The exhibition encourages visitors to reflect on whether society should place more emphasis on ensuring conditions for a dignified old age, by showcasing the virtues of the elderly more frequently. A virtual exhibition, an aging selfie app, and a document with a professional lecture on the challenges and solutions for ensuring conditions for a dignified old age were also created.
We were very successful in our efforts, as eight out of a hundred young participants expressed interest in volunteering at the Sopotniki Institute for the benefit of the elderly. This is a huge number knowing how difficult is engage and motivate young people to help the elderly.