Introduction
Population is aging all over the world.An explosion in the number of seniors is becoming a serious problem worldwide and the Czech Republic is no exception. The Baby boomers are reaching retirement age. Are there possibilities for stimulating for those who either do not want to work anymore or they cannot continue to work from various reasons?
A lack of social contacts is usually the very first thing that the freshly retired are missing. And they also start to suffer from a lack of mental stimulation and a decrease of physical activity.
I am not a sociologist but a field worker who has been iniciating and creating new programs for the activation of seniors for the last 30 years, that´s why I am coming forward with a concrete offer.
Those who are longing for the opening of new horizons and social contact with similarly motivated peers can apply for a course in the Center of Lifelong Learning. This intergenerational Center is offering a top quality non-vocational education. It has a strong social mission and therefore retired and handicapped people, mothers on maternity leave and unemployed people of productive age do not pay any tuition fee, but a token registration fee only /400 CZK per semester and course/. Students are getting the opportunity to participate in the additional activities /Club of Mutual Understanding/ free of charge.Besides that they can travel abroad either on the basis of a reciprocal exchange or explore foreign countries with a group of their classmates.
There is a Club of Active Aging which has been founded more than 32 years ago and offers a wide range of cultural programs for a low admission of CZK 50,– in order to make such programs affordable for a high number of senior citizens.
And there are memory training classes available for those who suffer from daily memory lapses. And those who really come are astonished not by the excellence of .a memory trainer ,they are totally astonished by themselves, how great they are! It is easy to remember well if you learn the know-how!
If you enroll into the above described programs, you could be in danger that you start to complain....... about the lack of time! And I have to confess that I am really enjoying this sort of complaint!
Welcome to www.activeaging.cz
Dana Steinova
