by Jim Brademas, Ph.D.
Greece attracts some nine million tourists a year who come
to visit the Parthenon, other great historical sites and the fabled
Greek Islands. I had the privilege of visiting Greece in 1986,
not as a tourist, but for a six-month sabbatical to study the
public leisure service delivery systems of that country. During that time, I traveled throughout the mainland of Greece
and many, many islands interviewing government officials and
recreation participants and compiling almost 1,000 slides of
various leisure facilities and programs. One activity which
surprised and intrigued me was Greece's senior citizen centers. The existence of these senior citizen centers surprised
me because on visits prior to 1986, I had not seen or heard of
such centers. In 1993 I returned to Greece to document the
programs and services of the centers.
Greece has a population of approximately 10,000,000
people with 4,500,000 living in Athens. Increasing urbanization has contributed to a sense of isolation for the
elderly, especially for those who are widows or widowers and living
alone. And due to better health care, the aging population is
increasing. Greek men have had their coffee houses
(kaffenions) as meeting places for a century or more. These
kaffenions are usually small places with a few tables and chairs
and a coffee bar. Men gather here to drink strong black coffee
in small demitasse cups, talk politics, and play backgammon
or dominoes. Greek women are not welcome in these coffee
houses. Greek women, traditionally, stay home, cook, do
housework and take care of children. Ventures outside the
home are usually for shopping and to attend church. Not much
changes when men and women become older and the children
are no longer home. Elderly men still frequent the coffee
houses, and women continue to do the shopping, cooking,
housecleaning and taking care of grandchildren.
While some limited efforts had been made by the Greek
government and the church to meet the needs of the elderly, it
was not until 1979 that a more comprehensive approach to
providing services to seniors was initiated with the founding
of neighborhood based senior citizen centers which are called
KAPIs. KAPI is an acronym meaning Kentron Anikiti
Prosthesea Iliokeomenos, or Centers Open for the Protection
of the Elderly. Today, there are approximately 300 centers in
Greece, most of which are in Athens. The centers are financed
by the federal government with control over daily operations
vested in local governments.
When the centers were first opened, personnel policies
called for one staff member for every 100 members. This policy
was soon shelved due to the influx of large numbers of people.
Today some centers have as many as 800 or more members
with no increase in staff. The membership represents all social and income levels.
Each center has a staff consisting of a director who is a
social worker, a physiotherapist, an occupational therapist and
a nurse. A doctor visits once a week. The physiotherapist
provides treatment for members by appointment, uses ultrasound equipment, and has access to X-rays. The nurse gives
blood pressure checks and injections and keeps medical records
on all members enabling her to assist the doctor on his weekly
visit. The doctor will see as many as 40 to 50 members in a
day. His basic function is to review the medical history of
members and write prescriptions. There are no charges for the
services of the physiotherapist, the nurse, the doctor or the
prescriptions. The occupational therapist is responsible for
forming small interest groups.
The centers are established in various settings, including
old homes and former commercial buildings, ranging in size
from quite small to fairly large and spacious quarters. Each
typically has several offices for staff, central meeting room,
room for small groups, a physiotherapy room, a nurse's room,
a nurse's examination room and a kitchen.
34 * Illinois Parks & Recreation * November/December 1994
Center programs are varied depending on the interest of
the members. Each center has a planning council supervised
by the center director. The council meets periodically to establish programs, arrange financing, and publicize the programs
through a member-published newsletter. Generally the programs are social, educational and recreational in nature. Small
group activities might include a women's discussion group, a
drama club, singing groups, garden and craft clubs and a newsletter group.
I visited several centers but concentrated on one in particular because the staff spoke English. I was made an
honorary member of their staff and participated in a number of their
activities. In this center, the drama group stages a play every
spring for three nights in a local school auditorium. The play
is always an original one written by one of the members. I
also accompanied about 90 seniors on a three-day bus tour to
several historical sites. It was three days of songs, poetry, stories and jokes. The first night of this trip we arrived at a sea-coast village for a late dinner in a traditional Greek tavema. In
a Greek tavema, it is customary to walk into the kitchen, look
over the food being prepared, and make your selection. After
dinner, the seniors danced folk dances late into the night, and
we were one hour away from our hotel in the village of Sparta.
These Greek seniors are very, very active people. The
historic lines of separation of men and women in Greece are
breaking down. These senior citizen centers are bringing together elderly men and women in settings that are welcomed
by all. Indeed, there have been some marriages among the
members. Glowing testimonials are offered by these elderly
participants who feel the centers have given them new hope
for the future.
Jim Brademas, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of the Office
of Recreation & Tourism Development, University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Brademas has produced a 26-minute video documentary titled "Seniors Citizen Centers in
Greece (1993)." The video is available for an $8.00 rental fee
from: Dr. James Brademas, Office of Recreation & Tourism
Development, University of Illinois, 104 Huff Hall, 1206 South
Fourth Street, Champaign, IL 61820 *
Illinois Parks & Recreation * November/December 1994 * 35 |
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Sam S. Manivong, Illinois Periodicals Online Coordinator |