Urbani izziv, thematic issue, 2015, no. 1 84 Presentations and information Barbara ČERNIČ MALI Alenka OGRIN The HELPS project pilot activity: An info point for housing solutions for seniors (Ljubljana, Slovenia) The HELPS project in brief HELPS (Housing and home care for the elderly and vulnerable people and local partnership strategies in Central European cities) is a project carried out by twelve joint project partners from eight central European countries between October  2011 and Decem- ber  2014 and implemented through the EU Territorial Cooperation Central Europe Programme co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. The general objectives of the HELPS project are to promote development strategies and practices to improve the quality of life of vulnerable groups with a strategic focus on the elderly and peo- ple with disabilities in urban areas in central Europe. Its specific objectives are to develop and consolidate innovative housing and care solutions by support- ing models of integrated local govern- ance–orientated policies, products and services. Within the HELPS project, health, so- cial innovation and housing issues are addressed by combining research stud- ies with practical pilot activity. The research activities comprised a trans- national review and evaluation of in- novative practices in housing and care solutions for the elderly and vulnerable people in central European cities, de- veloping recommendations for national policies and transnational programmes, and implementing individual pilot ac- tivities. A unified methodology for de- scribing and assessing current practices allowed comparability and made the policy implications reliable. The pilot activities were structured according to a common methodology and were ad- justed to the main findings from the project’s research activities. The HELPS pilot activities contributed to strengthening independent and ac- tive living by the elderly and disabled by focusing on community-based devel- opment, creating local governance plat- forms and paving the way for local ac- tion plans. Altogether, twelve partners took part in the project, tested twelve pilot activities and collected primary experience. The outputs of the HELPS projects are available online at http:// www.helps-project.eu. Pilot activity in Slovenia: An info point for housing solutions for seniors The Slovenian HELPS partner that developed and implemented the pilot activity was the Slovenian Federation of Pensioners’ Organisations (ZDUS). The ZDUS is an umbrella NGO that brings together 503 local organisations and pensioners’ clubs, with a total of 233,000  members. Given this large potential, ZDUS has an excellent op- portunity to involve members of the organisation as potential users and to disseminate information on the services offered by the info point. Background for selecting the pilot activity Like most of the developed world, Slovenia is ageing rapidly. Although the proportion of the population over sixty-five in  2011 was still below the EU-27 average, it is projected that it will be above the EU average in the future (e.g.,  in  2050 32.6% vs.  30.0%). The cause of the faster ageing rate is a low birth rate that is not outweighed by immigration. The population’s median age (41.7) already exceeded the EU-27 average of 41.3 in  2011 (VID, 2012). This steady growth in the population of older people in Slovenia (Černič et al., 2009) has brought to the fore issues of care for the elderly, including housing issues. There are two facts that require a strong policy orientation on housing for the elderly: with Slovenia being a nation of homeowners (Sendi, 2009; Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, SORS, 2014) the homeown- ership rate among the elderly is one of the highest in the EU, whereas other forms of housing between having one’s own home and living in an institution are relatively rare (Mandič  & Filipovič Hrast, 2011). Furthermore, as revealed by a recent survey conducted with the support of local pensioners’ associations among nearly 6,000 elderly individuals, owner-occupied status (84%) prevails among the elderly (Cibic et  al., 2006). Second, more than a quarter of those over sixty-five lived alone in 2002 (Ver- tot, 2011) and the proportion of these single households is growing. Living Urbani izziv, thematic issue, 2015, no. 1 85Presentations and information alone means higher economic vulner- ability. Several studies (Cibic, 2006; Černič, 2009; Sendi et al., 2009) report difficulties faced by the elderly that live in their own dwellings, such as mainte- nance and other housing costs. The situ- ation is even less favourable in the city of Ljubljana, where the ageing index is higher than the national one (113.5 vs. 96.3; SORS, 2002) and where some city districts’ concentration of the el- derly and/or single elderly households greatly exceeds the average (Černič et  al., 2009). These facts necessitated a pilot activity orientated towards es- tablishing and promoting new forms of housing solutions for the elderly in Ljubljana. The decision to develop this particular pilot activity also builds on the advan- tage of the rather strong role of the civil sector. According to a 2006 survey (Gril, 2006), NGOs play an important role in Slovenia, especially in the cen- tral part of the country. The state is the prevalent owner and financer, and is a dominant actor in providing social services. However, the government in- creasingly recognises that civil society organisations play an important role in providing services to the elderly and to persons with disabilities. This is re- flected in the Slovenian pilot activity: 33% of the population in Slovenia are members of at least one NGO, which indicates the importance of civil society organisations. Description of pilot activity At its headquarters in Ljubljana, the ZDUS established an info point for the elderly with the specific objective of providing up-to-date information and advice to the elderly about various housing and care options, such as avail- ability of places in sheltered houses and retirement homes, homecare assistance, cohousing, advice by experts to adapt houses in an age-appropriate manner, legal support on estate/housing op- tions, reverse mortgages, opportunities to move from current housing units to age-appropriate ones and so on. The pilot activity included promotion of more flexible thinking about housing options by means of awareness-raising media campaign, publications, lectures, roundtables and other promotional events. Two specific goals were followed. The first goal is to assist seniors and their families in finding the best solution for where and how to live in the third age, considering their personal needs and preferences. The second goal of the info point is to develop the idea of al- ternative housing options for seniors in shared households (i.e., cohousing) and to carry out a study on the interest in Slovenia in such a housing option, and also about financial aspects (a feasibil- ity study) and legal requirements for es- tablishing these kinds of senior-friendly housing units. Within the specific objectives of the pilot activity, the Slovenian partner carried out activities connected to the info point and its direct users. This included giving out information and counselling. During the first year of operation, help and advice was given to 240 users with various problems. The major topics included senior cohousing (various forms; 52%), sheltered housing (15%), availability of retirement homes (10%), homecare assistance (8%), refur- bishment and adaptations of dwellings (6%) and legal advice on estate/housing issues (6%). Target groups Even though the primary beneficiar- ies of the pilot activity are the elderly themselves, their families were also in- volved because they are often the ones that offer support to the elderly and are involved in selecting adequate housing solutions and/or adapting the living environment of the elderly. The second group of beneficiaries is the general pub- lic because the pilot activity also aims to raise awareness of the possibilities for spending one’s old age and some alter- native forms of housing. Description of the implementation process The implementation process was car- ried out in accordance with the plan. It included counselling as a tool to pro- vide advice and information for users (beneficiaries) and family members at one point at the front info desk during opening hours, by scheduling meetings or through telephone calls. The process of solving users’ problems or address- ing their specific housing problems followed the logic of case manage- ment, highlighting the design of well- thought-out and comprehensive help or care plans designed in cooperation with users. Such a plan includes: • Users’ problems, needs and desires, as determined from the findings of the user assessment; • Strategies, such as treatments and interventions, to be determined to address users’ problems and needs; • Goals to be achieved and the timeframe(s) for achieving them, the resources available and the cli- ent’s desires/motivation that may impact the plan. During the implementation phase, the ZDUS team recognised two major topics considered particularly impor- tant and that therefore needed to be developed further: senior cohousing and adaptations of homes (accessibil- ity and safety) in order to enable older people to stay at home safely and inde- pendently. The ZDUS responded to these needs with two publications on these topics: Together It’s Easier to Be Alone (Da je skupaj lažje biti sam; Boljka  & Ogrin, 2013) and Adapting the Living Environ- ment and Use of Assistive Devices for the Elderly (Prilagoditev opreme in uporaba pripomočkov za starejše; Slovenian Fed- eration of Pensioners’ Organisations, Urbani izziv, thematic issue, 2015, no. 1 86 Presentations and information 2013). Special attention was given by the ZDUS to promoting the info point and disseminating information. When designing promotional activities, special attention was given to selecting “user friendly” channels and media for the given age group for disseminating infor- mation. Publishing was thus accompa- nied by public presentations, workshops and other promotional activities. Altogether ZDUS has published thir- ty-two articles on this topic, given five interviews and promoted the pilot ac- tivity and its activities through several presentations and lectures, including interviews and articles in the local and national media. The media also took part in the promotion with six radio programmes, three TV programmes and five commercials. Innovative component of the results This model contributes to optimising cooperation between the government and civil sector in order to improve the social sphere. The info point improved the usage of other social services pro- vided by the state and by the NGO sec- tor because it shared information about housing and care services. Therefore the pilot activity maximised the efficiency of housing services as well as its own functioning. By promoting cooperation between professionals, clients could access personalised information on is- sues affecting housing for the elderly. Through the pilot activities, experts in the field worked effectively and cooper- ated while getting closer to clients. Con- sidering the success of the pilot activity, the partner wishes to extend it to other cities in the future. Although the period of pilot activity is over, the info point was still open for clients in  2014 because the Slovenian partner managed to obtain local funds to cover basic costs; they are searching for additional funds to continue the activities in the future (see Internet 1). Barbara Černič Mali Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia E-mail: barbara.cernic@uirs.si Alenka Ogrin Slovenian Federation of Pensioners’ As- sociations, Ljubljana, Slovenia E-mail: alenka.ogrin@zdus-zveza.si References Banovec, T., Boljka, U., Boškić, R., Černič Mali, B., Nagode, M., Ogrin, A., Sendi, R., et al. (2013) Housing and social care for the elderly in Central Europe: WP 3: main findings report: HELPS: Housing and home care for the elderly and vulnerable people and local partnership strategies in Central European Cities. Prague, Institute of Sociology. Banovec, T., Boljka, U., Boškić, R., Černič Mali, B., Nagode, M., Ogrin, A., Sendi, R., et al. (2013) Catalogue of practices: WP 3: HELPS: Housing and home care for the elderly and vul- nerable people and local partnership strategies in Central European cities. Prague, Institute of Sociology. Boljka, U. & Ogrin A. (2013) Da je skupaj lažje biti sam: zbornik prispevkov o (so)bivanju starejših. Ljubljana, Slovenian Federation of Pensioners’ Associations. Černič Mali, B., Mujkić S. & Bizjak, I. (2009) Quality of life in Ljubljana: Final research re- port. Ljubljana, Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia. Cibic, D., Drenik, I., Kožuh-Novak, M., Os- trman, A., Pavliha, M. & Žiberna, A. (eds.) (2006) Starejši za starejše: za boljše zdravje in višjo kakovost življenja doma. Ljubljana, Ministry of Health, Slovenian Federation of Pensioners’ Associations. Gril, A., Tančič, A., Vidmar, M. & Brečko, B. N. (2006) Spodbujanje prostovoljnega dela z mladimi: podprojekt “Prostovoljno delo mladih na področju sociale in culture”: projekt ciljnega raziskovalnega programa 2004. Final report. Ljubljana, Pedagogical Institute. Internet 1: http://helps-project.eu/images/ download/ReportOnPilotFindingsFinal.pdf (accessed 5 Dec. 2014). Mandič, S. & Filipovič Hrast, M. (eds.) (2011) Blaginja pod pritiski demografskih sprememb. Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences. Sendi, R. (2009) Ali ima Slovenija sploh najemni stanovanjski trg? In: Kožar, A. & Belšak, A. (eds.): Poslovanje z nepremičninami. Država, državljani, stanovanja, pp. 38–47. Ljubljana, Real Estate Institute. Sendi, R., Černič Mali, B., Goličnik, B., Tominc, B. & Mujkić, S. (2009) Prenova stanovanjskih sosesk Planina. Final report. Ljubljana, Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia. Slovenian Federation of Pensioners’ Associa- tions (2013) Prilagoditev opreme in uporaba pripomočkov za starejše. Ljubljana. Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (2014) Various publications. Ljubljana, govern- ment printers. Vertot, N. (2011) The elderly in Slovenia. Lju- bljana, Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia. Vienna Institute of Demography (2012): European Demographic Data Sheet. Available at: www.oeaw.ac.at/vid/datasheet (accessed 5 Dec. 2014). Figure 1: Counselling at the info point (photo: ZDUS team). Figure  2: HELPS senior cohousing booklet (photo: ZDUS team).