Boidobra seniors and students chat online to mitigate loneliness
Cerzir Afetos, Private Institution of Social Solidarity (IPSS) located in Boidobra, promotes, in collaboration with the Quinta das Palmeiras Secondary School, the “Conversas com Afetos”, with the objective of alleviating the loneliness of the elderly, especially in a pandemic period.
Cerzir Afetos explains, in a statement, that taking into account that “emotional closeness is one of the fundamental pillars” of its action, it is boosting the activity through “a completely safe intervention, respecting the standards that the pandemic requires“, through which provides the elderly with computer equipment and technical support, allowing them to “develop a guided dialogue with students and teachers from that school”.
According to Cerzir Afetos, the initiative “is exceeding the best expectations“, taking into account “the importance of the company that the interveners make to the elderly who are living alone“.
According to the IPSS, “there is space for the elderly to talk about the most important moments of their lives, about their concerns, even allowing the exchange of intergenerational advice, in an interaction full of respect, affection, admiration and curiosity”.
The institution emphasizes that students also benefit from learning in the context of “their civic sense, know the socio-cultural evolution of the region and develop values based on the life stories of the elderly”.
