CASE STUDY WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION - EUROPE With one quarter of the population above the age of 65, the Italian city of Udine heavily on the work of volunteers when it comes to caring for its older citizens. Most of the volunteers are themselves retired. Community solidarity for the elderly in Udine relies Volunteers distribute food door to door to people who are unable to cook for themselves and on the busiest days each volunteer delivers ‘meals on wheels’ to 20 homes. There are more than a thousand volunteers in Udine, organised in different associations. The majority of them are retired women who deliver ‘meals on wheels’, make small repairs around the house, accompany someone to the doctor or dentist, and arrange social and physical activities for people in need. Volunteering and solidarity are well in the area. For example, Friuli Venezia Giulia is one of the areas in the world with the highest percentage of young people who donate blood. rooted However, the more the population ages, the fewer individuals there are to provide support for others. One of the largest volunteer services in Udine is the helpline “No alla solit’Udine” (‘No to loneliness’), which is open to older citizens for four hours every morning. Three telephone operators are employed by the to answer their calls, and decide what kind of help they need. One thousand volunteers from 30 organisations offer a variety of services, from delivery of to , taking someone to the hairdresser or reading a book aloud. needy municipality groceries counselling There are no standard services, each case is evaluated individually, and if the operators that the volunteers cannot deal with the problem, they forward the case to a doctor or social worker. assess Another association is “Il Salotto d’Argento” (‘The Silver Sitting-Room’) which organises a of activities for older people. range self-sufficient 7 Read the text, then answer the questions. What percentage of people are over 65 in Udine? What is the average age of most volunteers? Are there more male or female volunteers in Udine? What is said about young people? What three services are mentioned in the text? What kind of service is Meals on Wheels? What is ‘No alla solit’Udine’? What kind of service do they provide? What is ‘The Silver Sitting-Room’? Who benefits from their services? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. GLOSSARY : : : : : : : : : to assess valutare counselling assistenza groceries la spesa municipality amministrazione comunale needy bisognoso to rely on fare affidamento su range gamma, serie rooted radicato self-sufficient autosufficiente