A. Project environment: profile of the organisation and local community
" Outline the project environment for the suggested voluntary activities, including the local community where the project will take place (e.g. geographical, social and economical environment).
" If the host placement is located in a live-in community, please include the rules and conditions that apply also for the volunteer.

The Home for Elderly People of Pisogne covers an area of 10.500 square meters, with ample green spaces that can be freely used by the patients and their families.
We can host up to 90 people in 4 buildings. The Day Centre hosts up to 20 people.
It is located in the province of Brescia, in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy and is 46 Km. far from Brescia, 47 Km. from Bergamo, 80 Km. from Verona, 100 Km. from Milan (reachable by car, train and bus). The nearest airports are the ones of Montichiari (between Verona and Brescia) and Orio al Serio (Bergamo).
The village of Pisogne, which has a population of about 7000 inhabitants, is located in a tourist area on the banks of the Iseo Lake (famous for the activities of surf, sail, for its splendid small beaches and the biggest lake island of Italy, Montisola). The economy of the village is linked to the presence of some important industries and to mountain and lake tourism.
Pisogne is a part of Vallecamonica famous for its ancient rock incisions (at about 30 km far from Pisogne), for the ski runs of Val Palot (hamlet of Pisogne), Monte Campione (at about 15 km far from Pisogne), Ponte di Legno (at about 60 km far from Pisogne) and Tonale (at about 80 km far from Pisogne), as well as the montainous tracks of the Adamello Park.
Vallecamonica is also rich in art and culture (the Roman Theatre of Cividate Camun, the frescos of Girolamo Romanino of the 16th century of the Church of S. Maria della Neve in Pisogne and of S. Antonio in Breno).



RULES AND CONDITIONS

- Closing time of the centre is at 11.00 p.m. every night; volunteers will not be obliged to respect the closing time and will be given keys in order to have the possibility to come back when they want. In case of unfair behaviour the keys will be requisitioned.
- It's not possible to host friends and relatives.
- Meals are provided within the centre at fixed times: 12-13 for lunch and 18-19 for dinner. Volunteers are required to respect these times. As for breakfast volunteers can go to the bar or can arrange it autonomously in their room.
- Being a sanitary structure, smoking is strictly forbidden.
- It's also absolutely prohibited to bring in alcoholic drinks.

B. Proposed activities for EVS volunteers
" Describe what you can offer to volunteers in terms of service and learning opportunities.
" Please, explain what will be the role of EVS volunteers in the host organisation.
" Describe the activities in which the volunteers could be involved and the activities the volunteers could create in your organisation. Give examples of typical activities for the volunteers.

Volunteers will have the opportunity to develop their relational skills learning how to relate with elderly people with dementia; in particular they will learn how to be condescending towards old people avoiding to contradict them, using a placid tone of voice and reassuring them.
They will be taught the typical characteristics of Alzheimer (i.e. emotional fragility, delirium, mental disorder, cognitive and memory deficit, iterative or senseless way of speaking).
They will increase their capacity to identify the different roles and specific competences of the various professional figures; they will learn specifically to recognize the interests of the elderlies, the dynamics existing in families where there's an old person, how a Home for Elderly People is organised and how it works.
The EVS experience will give the volunteer the opportunity to increase his/her competencies, to know the standard of the social sector in Europe and hence to develop European consciousness.

The dimension of interculturality is fundamental in our decision to host European volunteers. Our aims are:
- Give the volunteers the possibility to meet Italian culture and develop an open and friendly attitude towards different habits and traditions;
- To contribute to the overcoming of prejudices and stereotypes in young volunteers and in the local community.

Volunteers will dedicate most of their time to entertainment activities which they can implement and develop with new proposals, ideas and suggestions in accordance with their motivation, skills, attitudes and background.

We think that volunteers are resourceful people endowed with a great spirit of enterprise and creativity.
Their presence and their help will be for us a great support in the development of our activities.

As specified above, the main aim of our activities is the stimulation of the cognitive capacities and of the emotional and relational resources in the elderly people.
This happens through the organisation of activities in which volunteers can have a role and can develop personal projects and proposals.

ENTERTAINMENT ACTIVITIES INSIDE THE CENTRE:

The activities we organise are the following:
Stimulation of memory, attention and language through:
- Repetition, identification or completion of lists of words or numbers
- Calculations
- Logic games and exercises
- Books and newspapers reading
- Enigmatography
- Puzzle
- Linguistic games
- Films
- Exercises in groups aimed at helping the elderly remembering their past lives.
- Therapy of orientation in the reality through the provision of information about the current year, season, month, day, time, place of residence; these pieces of information are provided every day (at the beginning and during the day) usually before reading the newspaper.
- Discussions with the elderly about their backgrounds, with particular eye on the appreciation of their emotional resources, their self-esteem and their motivation aiming at cutting down eventual depressive feelings.
- Occupational therapy: the elderly are requested to realise specific objects with a particular aim connected to a certain event or project (i.e. restoration of objects with the technique of découpage, or knitting, or working with salt dough, etc.).
- Activities for socialisation: feasts, singing, dancing, physical training, bingo, quiz, etc.

ENTERTAINMENT ACTIVITIES ORGANISED OUTSIDE THE CENTRE:

- Periodical meetings with children, pupils and students of the local kindergarten and schools (for feasts, lunches, games, dancing events, or for specific projects agreed with the schools for the organisation of charities);
- Trips to the market or to the shopping centre;
- Calls to other organisations;
- Organisation of cultural and recreational activities where the elderly are either participants or spectators;
- Participation to events organised by the Municipality or by other institutions.

The volunteer will mostly collaborate with the entertainment staff for about 5 hours per day (25 hours per week; more or less 70% of the total time); s/he will collaborate with the assistance staff for about 1,5 hours every day (7,5 hours per week; about 20% of the time).
Volunteers are allowed (if they want to) to collaborate for 3 hours per week with the kinesitherapist (about 10%). This activity can be of interest for those volunteers that, at the end of EVS, are willing to go on working in the social field with elderly people.
Volunteers won't be required to do neither one-to-one assistance nor personal care. The collaboration with the assistance staff will be only during meal-time when volunteers, if willing to, can help the staff in the supply of the meals to the elderly and can keep them company by proposing simple activities like playing cards or simply having a chat.

The weekly schedule will be agreed directly with the volunteer on the basis of his/her attitudes and skills.
He/She will be in a position to develop different kinds of workshops: manual ability, music, creativity, discussion groups on books, films, current events, etc.
Since our work is based on the relation with people it's necessary that duties and tasks are performed with motivation and enthusiasm.

A typical day at our centre is organised as follows:

- 8.15-9 welcoming of the guests of the Day Centre and/or collaboration with the assistance staff for the supplying of breakfast to elderly people;
- 9-11:00 collaboration with the entertainment staff (usually in the morning the local newspaper is read and commented on with the elderly, or trips to the market of the hamlet are organised when the weather allows it);
- 11.00-11.30 collaboration with the assistance staff for the supplying of the lunch to some elderly;
- 12.00-14.00 lunch in the canteen of the structure and free time for the volunteer;
- 14.15-17 collaboration with the entertainment staff (usually in the afternoon the elderly are proposed activities like bingo, knitting, puzzle, crosswords, discussion groups, realisation of objects during the occupational therapy, singing, music therapy, theme parties and birthday parties, trips to the shopping centre, etc).

All the year long we organise: trips, events of sensitization to the problems related to the senile condition, intergenerational exchanges with children from the primary and secondary schools and the high schools.


C. Volunteer profiles and recruitment process
Please describe the profiles of volunteers you would like to receive in your organisation. Include information on how you ensure an open and transparent recruitment process as well as the overall accessibility of EVS to all young people. Consider further information about the type of sending organisation you want to cooperate with. This information can help the match-making between volunteer candidates, sending organisations and your organisation.

Volunteers have to be aware of the difficulty of working with non self-sufficient elderly persons that suffer from physical and mental disabilities; some of them present a diagnosis of dementia and Alzheimer.
The volunteer should be willing to accept the indications given by the staff in order to facilitate his/her interaction with the elderly.
He/she should be able to live in a complex residential reality that needs flexibility and ability of adaptation.

Selection criteria:

During the evaluation of applications, we'll take into consideration the profiles which better cling to the above mentioned requirements.
Transparency is guaranteed and no discriminations for sex, origin, walk of life, or linguistic knowledge will be pursued.

D. Special needs (if applicable)
If your placements are open to hosting volunteers with fewer opportunities, please provide information about the competence, experience and infrastructure and (human or other) resources available in your organisation to accommodate and support them.

At the moment we are not in a position to host volunteers with minor opportunities.

E. Risk prevention, safety and protection
Please describe how you will guarantee a safe living and working environment for the EVS volunteers, how you will prevent risks and crises and how - in the case of EVS volunteers aged 16 or 17 - you ensure appropriate supervision, child safety and protection.

Due to the medical conditions of the elderly hosted in the Charitable Health Residence that, at that age present different pathologies and particularly dementia, we ask for a medical certificate relative to infectious diseases in progress, to antibodies and antigens, to hepatitis B and C, in order to avoid eventual contagion to the elderly.
In the same way the volunteer will be guaranteed from possible contagion as s/he won't be given tasks of medical or nursing nature.

The organisation follows current regulations in terms of safety.
There are no architectural barriers and we use only disposable materials.
Volunteers are not exposed to any particular risk or danger as they are not required to get in contact with chemical products, with medicaments, or to do personal care.

http://ec.europa.eu/youth/evs/aod/hei_form_en.cfm?EID=42000417265