Older People for Older People (0-4-0)

O4O is funded as a pilot project and is seeking to develop a main project application to EU Northern Periphery Programme in autumn 2007.

O4O aims to go through a process of engaging older people in designing innovative services and health improvement activities to help keep older people living independently in their rural communities. An underpinning principle of O4O is to involve older people themselves in the process of planning, developing, co-ordinating and volunteering/working in a range of types of social organisational models for providing services and activities. These might include voluntary organisations, co-operatives and social enterprises, but all would have social goals as a primary focus. An outcome of the project will be to develop a toolkit for developing O4O organisations that can be used by other communities. Running alongside the supported development of O4O organisations, a programme of research will examine the impact of involving older people in planning, providing and running services and activities in terms of community social and economic capacity-building, help-giving behaviour, health and wellbeing of community members and costs to community service providers.

Find out more... visit the O4O website