Lecture on healthy ageing welcomes participants of the “Senior Citizen” Program

Looking to bring the community closer to the institution and stimulate the insertion of elders into the university life, through educational, recreational, cultural, and social actions, the practice of physical activities and quality of life for people over 60 years of age, as well as promoting the integration between elders and academics, with the participation in class in different Faculties, the University of Rio Verde – UniRV has done, this Monday, March 13^th, a warm welcoming of the people enrolled in the Senior Citizen Program.

Developed since the second semester of 2017 by the Pro-Rectory of Extension and Culture, the project is designed to elders who are interested in participating of educational, cultural and social actions. In all, 30 grandpas and grandmas are part of the program’s third edition and will have on Mondays a class in one of the faculties, getting guidance on each subject’s themes and, on Fridays, the students will participate of activities that involve music, singing and English, being having the opportunity to learn in many different areas of knowledge.

The welcoming program for the elder freshmen had the lecture “Ageing: Happiness has no age”, presented by the director of the Faculty of Medicine and geriatric doctor, Rychard Arruda, who approached such a proper theme for the opening class, in a laxed way, sharing interesting information to the participants.

According to the program coordinator, professor Dr. Gilmar Oliveira Santos, the seed that was planted in 2017 has yielded good fruit and it gives the opportunity to integrate the community to the University. “It is very pleasurable to welcome all of you here and give the opportunity for you to interact with the University. We are kicking off the program’s third edition and we hope to contribute to learning in many areas,” he comments.

According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), in our country, currently there are 15 million elders, around 9% of the population, with the perspective that by year 2025 there might be 34 million elders, roughly 15% of the population. It will be the sixth oldest country, behind Sweden, France, United States, Uruguay, Argentina and China. That is the reason for the concern of the University of Rio Verde in promoting actions that seek to integrate this age group, giving them the opportunity to get to know the university universe and promote actions that contribute to their quality of life.