A large international gerontological public health symposium held in Trakošćan
In the presence of the representatives of the line ministries and public health institutions of the Republic of Croatia and the Varaždin County, on September 28th 2018, an international gerontological-public health symposium was held at the Hotel Trakošća
The event was held to commemorate October 1st, International Day of the Elderly.
The importance of the meeting is also evidenced by the fact that representatives of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy, the Ministry of Labour and the Pension System, the Alma Mater Europa University - Maribor and Libertas International University and the Croatian Medical Chambers responded , The Croatian Chamber of Nursing, the Croatian Chamber of Social Workers, the Croatian Chamber of Physical Therapists and the Croatian Chamber of Healthcare Professionals. The Director of the Institution of the City of Zagreb Dobri dom Alen Župan, M.Sc. in Gerontology participated in the work of this symposium.
The event was co-ordinated by the Ministry of Health's Reference Centre for the Protection of the Elderly - Public Health Gerontology Service of the Teaching Institute of the Public Health “Doctor Andrija Štampar” and the Croatian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics at the Croatian Medical Association.
Numerous thematic lectures were held by experts who spoke on various aspects of social gerontology, shared experiences of its development in Slovenia and the Zagreb model beyond institutional care for the elderly, and spoke about the program measures of the Social Welfare Strategy for the Elderly in period from 2017 until 2020.
There was also a thematic round table in which 30 doctors and experts of all profiles specialized in working with the elderly participated. The Ministry of Labour's projects related to the development and improvement of care for the elderly with a view to their employment in re-orientation occupations were also presented, as well as other specialized projects closely related to this topic.
In this context, this gathering, with its conclusions, is certainly an important positive message sent to the whole community, primarily to the elderly, as well as to all those who, at key decision-making levels, are invited to recognize the extremely complex problems that the aging of the population brings (not only in our country) , but also at European level and the need to create new policies so that society can find appropriate solutions in a timely and appropriate manner.
Support of this is the fact that the symposium in Trakošćan ended with the founding of the Croatian Association of Social Gerontologists. Mara Županic was elected its president, Damir Poljak the vice-president and Alen Župan the secretary.
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