PR 00167 - Design and Develop

Description of the project and the local area

We have a lot of information available about our target group:

• We conducted a survey called ‘survey for the needs of seniors’ (‘Seniorenbehoeftenonderzoek’). With the answers of more than 400 respondents, we have an exceptionally broad overview of the needs of elderly people in our city.
• Focus groups and interviews carried out among intermediary organisations that daily interact with the target group

Assets and resources

The results of the survey for the needs of seniors (‘Seniorenbehoeftenonderzoek’), together with the results of the survey Come Out of Your Shell were rich and reliable sources of information for revealing the needs of the elderly people in the city of Ostend. A broad basis was set, out of which we are able to operate.

Our team has a lot of expertise: having long-time experience with the target group, especially our project manager. Furthermore we can fall back on the experiences in movement and opportunities towards the target group of our sports department and in detecting them with the help of our service centers.

Geographical setting

The city center district of Ostend is our testing ground, our lab. It’s the beating heart and the touristic centre of the City and has a surface of 0,75 m². With 9.497 inhabitants per square kilometre, the city center is 21 times more populated than the region Flanders, in which it is located.

The city center district harbors 2 service centers: service center ‘De Boeie’ and service center ‘Oud-Hospitaal’.

Why did we choose this urban area? From the survey for the needs of seniors (cf. supra) we determined that older people in the city center district move less compared to their peers in the other districts/neighborhoods of the city because everything (for example shops) is close by and there are no sports facilities. Furthermore they are the most difficult population group to stimulate to move more and to reach out to.

Current situation

`What currently happens` in relation to your project problem or issue, is your project new or are you building on an existing project?

Demand

·    Being active: seniors made it clear that they want to make use of sporting facilities (mobility offers), that they want to exercise.

·    Social interaction/involvement: furthermore, there is a need for social interaction. It’s the number one priority of almost every senior. They want to chat and laugh with each other, have a good time and get to know each other.

Expansion

Are you planning to expand an already-successful project with a different population or in a different setting? Please describe your reasons for this and what information you used to inform your decision?

Information capture for your project

Please make a plan and decide what strategies you are going to use and when. As a minimum everyone needs to keep their meeting minutes/notes and attendance details. Other ideas are photos/videos/diaries/attendance numbers/participant feedback/log book. In relation to the SAIL feasibility study you will need to be able to say who attended your project and when also including the participants age and gender if possible.

Acceptability

As seniors in Ostend are omnipresent in population statistics (27,6%) and as they are an age category that policy of today should certainly take into account, the proposed actions of the project received very positive feedback from intermediary organisations and policy makers from in and around the City. We received these positive comments on various occasions (stakeholder meetings, focus groups, informal network moments, by e-mail, …).

Furthermore, we received positive comments from the target group. These remarks play a vital role in the practical implementation of our concept and are extremely valuable to our proceedings. This often happens during the project activities (like our sessions), while advertising on events, casual encounters or by e-mail.

Although we received positive feedback, it’s not easy – let us say very challenging –  to mobilize seniors to join sporting activities.

Adaptation

Have you made any changes to your original plans, why did you make the change and what information did you base your new plans on?

Key stakeholders and relations

Some participants of the ‘Silver sessions’ (our movement sessions outdoors) are far more involved than expected. During these sessions they take care of the group, they assist the less mobile persons when needed, they help to cross the intersections, they prepare and clean up the materials used. In addition to that, these key individuals also welcome new faces and show them around, and they advertise the project to others of their age group. In short, they are the face of the Silver sessions and of project SAIL in the city of Ostend.

The synergy between project SAIL and the community workers (under the supervision of the district manager) of the city centre district and the district manager himself play a central role in the continuity of the Silver sessions. In exchange for their support and advertisement, the sessions are the perfect time to make themselves known among the participants, to win their trust and to gather information. It’s a win-win for all partners involved!