International Conference on elderly care in Tbilisi, Georgia

Posted on 4. June 2013 | by Paul Wardenga International Conference on elderly care in Tbilisi, Georgia

The conference was held on 28 and 29 May 2013 by the Samaritan organization of Georgia SSK. International experts discussed with Georgian representatives of civil society, the municipal authority of Tbilisi and the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs, about new approaches to care delivery and financing schemes for social services.

georgien_int__konferenz_neu-300x205[1] — Conference participants / SSK

Andris Berzins, Director of the Samaritan organization in Latvia, presented structures in geriatric care and cooperation agreements between NGOs and government in Latvia. Apart from several Georgian contributions, health care expert and head of the health and social service dept. of the Austrian Samaritan organization Christine Ecker reported about the fields of activity of mobile nursing staff in out-patient service, disease patterns and standards for the delivery of care in Austria.

Gabriele Osing, head of the social services dept. of ASB Germany spoke about new approaches in elderly care in Europe. She provided information on trends and developments in care delivery in Germany which was particularly important for the Georgian participants. Gabriele Osing pointed out that socio-spatial and neighbourhood related structures in care and welfare for older people will important for Germany as well in the future. The presented concepts, primarily representing a combination of informal forms of aid, could be also useful in Georgia. Most of all, she explained, it would be important to not offer any off-the-shelf remedies but jointly seek tailor-made solutions on the basis of good and bad experiences in order to develop long-term projects.

White Cross Director Dr. Ivo Bonamico, spoke about the process of setting up a social call system and Svetlana Levkovksa, head of the Ukrainian Samaritan organization and Veronika Timbalauri, head of Moldavian NGO Neo Humanist, both reported on their experiences and challenges related to elderly care in their countries.

More than 50 guests took part in the conference which was held in the context of the “Mobile Care Project” in Telawi, carried out in cooperation with GEZA (affiliated organisation of ASBÖ), ASB Germany and the Samaritan organization in Georgia.

This project focuses on the implementation of a mobile nursing service for elder, single people in Telavi and the surrounding villages in cooperation with the municipal authority. About 70 senior citizens are provided with medical, home and psycho-social care by an out-patient service. In addition, unemployed persons with basic medical knowledge, in particular from the most vulnerable group of internally displaced persons (IDPs), are provided further training in the field of home care and are partly deployed in mobile care services.

The project is supported by the Austrian Development Cooperation.