The Elderly in Uruguay: Volunteer Work and Civic Service Actors

Executive Summary

The central hypothesis of this study is that civic service in its different expressions can become a contributor to positive development for the elderly, both at the individual and collective levels. In addition, we hypothesize that civic service will also benefit the organization in which the service takes place as well as society as a whole. Finally, we argue that intergenerational interaction can benefit both the elderly and young adults and adolescents.

Within this framework and based on that hypothesis, this study attempts to answer two key questions: Which are the best and most appropriate forms of service? and What are the most suitable programs to recruit and retain elderly volunteers for voluntary action?

It is widely recognized that the arrival of old age introduces changes in people's lives. These changes take place at physic, psychological and affective levels. One of the main transitions is retirement from work, which has usually constituted-in the adult stage-the structuring element of daily life.

This time is theoretically conceived as a time in which people, after completing their active working life, acquire the right to rest and engage in activities that in the past, due to their obligations and daily commitments, were closed to them. But in our society, this period of transition has become a difficult one. The social stigma of being older and the image of the elderly as obsolete and passive individuals have condemned older adults to the isolation and seclusion of domestic life. Their lives are constrained by a paradox: they live longer due to advances in science and technology, but the quality of their extended lives is compromised.

The current society’s productivity paradigm values individuals in terms of their ability to provide financial value. Moreover, the culture’s addiction to youth and novelty does not allow many of the elderly to find new significance for their lives. They are generally unable to assign themselves new roles in order to remain socially integrated and to use their abilities and experience to contribute to the common good.

In this context, the organizations addressing the promotion of volunteer work with an elderly population play a crucial role in reversing older adults’ typical retreat to the private sphere. Their proposals and initiatives offer opportunities to interact with peers. Also, the organizations provide a place for the elderly to play a leading role in providing services to others, which gives them satisfactions as individuals and as citizens. In addition, their collaboration to provide care for others creates a comfortable and safe place where collective identity ties may be strengthened. In this way, the elderly re-enter the social world.

Resource: 

The Elderly in Uruguay. Volunteer work and civic service actors.pdf