When is the right time?
An article in the Beobachter "Allowing senior citizens to actively participate in life" impressively points out that senior citizens can become lonely at home. He goes into rudimentary detail about how third parties or relatives can activate, motivate and persuade older people to join an interest group. However, he talks about playing cards and hiking, not about passing on his own knowledge from his long professional life.
The question remains: when is the right time to get involved in your profession again? Some people need a break or a break after retirement. How do you find your way back into an active senior life after a break?
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The Federal Statistical Office writes:
Active ageing means that people have the opportunity to maintain their health as they get older, participate in the life of their social environment, ensure their personal safety and thus improve their quality of life (WHO, 2002).
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe has created an Active Ageing Index AAI. It shows the extent to which the potential of older people is being exploited in three different areas: Employment, social participation and independent living. The AAI also includes a fourth area that goes beyond the actual experience of active ageing. It captures the differences between countries in terms of the situation of their older populations and the creation of an enabling environment for active ageing.
What does active ageing mean to you, dear reader? How does it manifest itself for you?
My personal definition is something like this:
- Still very curious about everything around him.
- The need not to be slowed down by the adversities of getting older.
- Empathy and openness towards people.
- Lifelong learning.
With this in mind, let's look forward to active ageing!
Beatrice
Interview with Hanspeter Kraft from May 7, 2019
Since the start of the "GGG Digi-Coach" project in December 2018, Hanspeter Kraft has spent one afternoon a week at the Gundeldingen library on Tellplatz. He welcomes people seeking advice and advises them on computers, programs, cell phones, tablets, online forms and much more.
Hanspeter Kraft is a retired mathematician from the University of Basel. His connection to the digital world has existed throughout his professional life. He explains that as a GGG Digi-Coach, you not only need to have an affinity for today's technology - you also have to like people. The topics are varied, he not only advises senior citizens, younger men and women also come to him.
It is important to him to take away the uncertainty of those seeking advice and to strengthen their confidence in their own knowledge. Sometimes he closes elementary gaps in order to get people out of any defensive position they may have towards the digital world. He lets everyone do it themselves and only sits in to advise them. And he smiles: "Women are a bit braver! They are more daring to ask questions.
Info
https://www.stadtbibliothekbasel.ch/de/gundeldingen.html
Interview Annelies Greney from April 29, 2019
I'm meeting Annelies Greney for a coffee to start this little interview. I have known Annelies personally for many years. Her commitment to volunteer work brought us together; we did neighborhood work together for several years, Annelies was reliable and she has a sense of humor, which made the often intensive collaboration very pleasant.
When did you retire?
Since September 2018.
Would you like to continue working?
I feel fit, I have a lot of work and life experience. I started looking around during my last few months at work. There are lots of opportunities for people who want to get involved. Voluntary and paid. I looked around at "dog-sitting", "Homeinstead" and many more, but then signed up for Seniors@Work.
What experiences have you had with Seniors@Work so far?
I have seen that my profile has been clicked on over 100 times and once I received an offer. But I turned it down.
Why did you turn down this offer?
The offer included a fixed number of hours per week for a long time, for months on end. But I was firmly integrated into working life for over 40 years. I no longer need such a tight corset. I'd rather have occasional, short-term assignments.
What happens now?
I'll wait and see if an offer comes along that fits my profile.
"I'm open to many things," says Annelies Greney and laughs her sympathetic laugh.
There are people who follow role models their whole lives. I have never done that. But in my life I have repeatedly "stumbled across" people who have made a big impression on me.
It happened again recently. Do you know Ruth Bader Ginsburg? I confess I knew nothing about her until I became aware of the Hollywood movie "on the basis of sex". Ruth Bader Ginsburg - or RBG - was born in Brooklyn in 1933 and has been an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court since 1993. She has spent a lifetime campaigning for equal rights for both women and men. I was already impressed by the above-mentioned movie. It was therefore only logical that I should also watch the documentary "RBG".
This incredibly interesting woman is still active as a judge and tirelessly on the road. She inspires generations, sensitizes young people to issues of equality and women's rights and is committed to issues such as abortion, the death penalty and homosexuality. A funny detail: RBG doesn't just wear the traditional judge's robe. No, she spices it up with jabots of various kinds, subtly introducing a feminine element into a domain that has long been incredibly defended by men.
Both films are currently still showing in theaters. Highly recommended!
Beatrice Isler
Source photo: Flickr
