This week we have continued with our ongoing work on projects to do with older people. With this month being dedicated to this sector of society, it has been the main focus of our work. This week, the Parliamentary Secretariat for Rights of People with Disability and Active Ageing has launched a series of important initiatives related to active ageing.
Firstly, by upgrading the services provided at traditional day centres for the elderly we have made lifelong-learning hubs. We have prepared a detailed prospectus for several day centres around the Maltese Islands in order to provide a pleasant, learning experience for those who use them. The prospectus consists of several modules, namely Maltese arts and culture, Maltese history, and even aerobics. Apart from that, we have teamed up with the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) in order to provide an insight on another subject: digital information and modern communication, which gives information on how to use IT equipment and how to use the internet to communicate with family and friends. The MCA is organising these sessions with the use of tablets, being an affordable, easy to use tool for older people to become familiar with.
In order to strengthen our community services, the Parliamentary Secretariat has also teamed up with Casa Leone - through a Public-Church Partnership to - to begin providing more respite beds than ever before. We believe that the respite service is important because it provides the families of older members of our society with an incentive to keep their elderly relatives within the community by providing a maximum of three weeks of respite. This facility can also be used in circumstances where, for example, the usual care provider requires medical attention and so cannot look after the older member of the family for a while.
With this Public-Church Partnership, the government will be providing 14 extra respite beds in addition to the seven beds already provided at St Vincent de Paul Residence. Tripling the number of respite beds demonstrates the government's ongoing commitment to provide and enhance community services for the elderly in the Maltese Islands.
After the success of the opera ticket scheme in Gozo, for which the Parliamentary Secretariat received an overwhelming number of requests from for older people living actively within the society, we have decided to launch another initiative to promote and enhance active ageing, social inclusion and cultural knowledge for the elderly. This time, we have teamed up with the Gozo Tourism Association in order to organise a four-day holiday in Gozo. We have prepared a detailed programme for this initiative and participants can choose accommodation as they may seem fit. The price list is very reasonable and everything is included in the package, including transport, food and other related fees. In this way we are also promoting Gozo as a safe and quiet place where older people can take a four day break.
In Gozo we have also launched the first lifelong-learning hub for the elderly in Gozo with a very attractive programme.
It was a pleasure for me to attend Premju Anzjanità Attiva 2014, organised by the Parliamentary Secretariat, which was truly a celebration of the term 'active ageing' and anyone adapting his or her life to that theme. I must congratulate Ms Mary Azzopardi, the winner of the award, as well as everyone else who participated or otherwise demonstrated an interest in the award.
Dr Caruana is the Parliamentary Secretary for the Rights of People with Disability and Active Aging