{"id":6008,"date":"2023-08-16T10:44:07","date_gmt":"2023-08-16T08:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coeso.hypotheses.org\/?p=6008"},"modified":"2023-07-20T10:45:39","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T08:45:39","slug":"agorage-caring-community-toolkit-recommendations-for-any-person-or-group-wishing-to-create-a-caring-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coeso.hypotheses.org\/6008","title":{"rendered":"AGORAge Caring community toolkit. \u00a0Recommendations for any person or group wishing to create a caring community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The AGORAge project is one of the 10 COESO pilots. It is a one-year-long project<\/strong> that took place between June 2022 and May 2023. During this timeframe, Adele De Stefani, European project manager at Istituto per Servizi di Ricovero e Assistenza agli Anziani<\/a> (ISRAA) and Isabella Ricc\u00f2 researcher from the Department of Anthropology, Philosophy and Social Work <\/a>(DAFTIS) and the Medical Anthropology Research Center<\/a> (MARC) led together this citizen science project in two retirement homes<\/strong>; Casa Albergo<\/a>, and the co-housing arrangement at\u00a0 Borgo Mazzini<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their project is being implemented locally, and has been built from a grassroots level\u00a0to meet the needs they have identified by addressing the professionals and residents of these two places. Everyone involved in the research project – professionals working in the homes, residents and local stakeholders – wants to understand what a caring community could look like<\/strong> and how to promote social inclusion in their neighborhoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the outcomes of this research project is a toolkit designed to share the techniques used to assess the situation<\/strong> regarding the sense of community and to improve the community dynamics<\/strong> toward a \u201ccaring community\u201d. The toolkit is envisioned to support other initiatives of researchers and practitioners dealing with social intervention and social inclusion.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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First page of AGORAge toolkit – English version
https:\/\/zenodo.org\/record\/8119965<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A range of tools to assess the situation<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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to find out more about the diagnostic tools, go to page 9 to 20 of the agorage toolkit<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

AGORAge implemented this research in the Casa Albergo nursing home and in Borgo Mazzini Smart Cohousing, in the historic centre of Treviso (Italy). They studied the needs and views of the residents and professionals working in the houses regarding community care and social safeness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThis takes into account several dimensions: physical, such as the home and the surrounding environment; social, which involves the relationships with the people in this environment; emotional and psychological, which have to do with the feeling of belonging and attachment; and cultural, which refers to the values, beliefs, ethnicity, and symbolic and shared meanings of older people.\u201d<\/p>\nLecovich, E. (2014) Aging in place: From theory to practice. Anthropological Notebooks, 20 (1), 21\u201333<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

They used a variety of techniques and tools to find out how residents felt about their neighbourhood and neighbours. To gather data and feed their research, they used social research techniques and tools such as observation, questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, relationship map workshop\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After assessing the situation of the residents and workers of Casa Albergo and Borgo Mazzini, they went further in building this caring community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How to foster a caring community?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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To find out more about the intervention tools, go to page 20 to 27 of the AGORAge toolkit<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo change the community\u2019s status by improving its dynamics<\/em>\u201d (AGORAge toolkit, p 20) they had to bring intervention tools to the table. They continued to maintain close relationships with ISRAA professionals and residents. To generate new ideas and community representation, they used tools such as community mapping, the “bench workshop” and the idea generation workshop. With a one-year project, they didn’t have time to use all the techniques and tools they wanted. They have therefore included other techniques, initiatives and good practices in their toolkit to give readers the opportunity to explore other avenues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The toolkit is filled with concrete examples from their work and practical recommendations<\/strong> for those wishing to improve the dynamics of a specific community. While the focus is on older people and the reality of those living in retirement homes, one of the main themes of the toolkit is the social inclusion of vulnerable people <\/strong>and could be useful for other public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The toolkit is not only useful for individuals, organisations and service providers who wish to create a “caring community”, but it is also of interest to stakeholders, policy and decision-makers and local public authorities<\/strong>, who are key players in setting up and maintaining these caring communities. Indeed, the toolkit highlights the value of involving the concerned people and provides information about their expectations, needs and desires which can be very helpful for the different local and national stakeholders to improve their living conditions.\u00a0AGORage stated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIn a functional sense, ageing in place and community care, or the communities who care for their citizens, should include policies and programmes that help maintain the fit between people and their residential environment.\u201d<\/p>\nAGORAge toolkit<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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3 versions of AGORAge toolkit (Spanish, Italian, Catalan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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AGORAge Caring community toolkit:<\/h1>\n\n\n\n