Cáritas Coimbra promoted healthy lifestyles at the S. José Community Centre
On October 19th, Cáritas Coimbra organized the 2nd National Multiplier Event, integrated in the activities of the Hands-on SHAFE project. The event took place at the S. José Community Centre, in Coimbra, and was held by the Innovation Department, represented by Andrea Campos, Maria Inês Santos and Vera Pinto.
With the theme “Healthy lifestyles promotion: challenges and strategies”, this initiative aimed to bring to the community of this Centre the concept of Smart Healthy Age-Friendly Environments (SHAFE) and the goals and results achieved by the Hands-on SHAFE project. The event focused on the training module “Lifestyle and Therapy”, with information and tips about a healthy diet, exercise, therapy, and the importance of the role of the community in promoting well-being. Students from the Degree in Diet and Nutrition, Ana Fernandes, Ana Duarte, Catarina Busca and Vanessa Laborinha, from the Coimbra Health School were invited, and they led two workshops on “Healthy and Accessible Food” and “Tips for adopting a Healthy Lifestyle”.
The 20 participants evaluated this initiative in a very positively way. Through their active interventions, they shared the need for greater dissemination of health and wellness information for older adults and informal caregivers. Several participants mentioned that it is very important to hold training sessions in these areas because of the impact they have on personal, family, and community life.
The participation certificates and the Hands-on SHAFE kit, consisting of a tote bag and a glass bottle, were delivered to the participants at the end of the event, to activate them to choose and maintain healthy and sustainable lifestyles, that must start with each of us, in our homes and communities.
The Hands-on SHAFE project aims to deliver training packages for informal learning experiences and hands-on tools to improve the skills of people of all ages, and especially seeks to enable people with low-skills or low-qualifications to choose and implement Smart Healthy Age-Friendly Environments (SHAFE) in their own homes or neighbourhoods. All the materials will be made available publicly and for free.
Hands-on SHAFE is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, Key Action 204 Adult Education programme. The project is coordinated by AFEdemy (Netherlands) and has a partnership with Cáritas Coimbra (Portugal), ISIS GmbH (Germany), Airelle Corrèze (France), Technological University Dublin (Ireland) and Politechnika Warszawska (Poland).
