Gesamtschule Waldbröl (2018)
Third Place of the YES! 2018
Yes, we Care!
Ageing in Germany and other far developed societies – it usually is a problem for individuals and the society. Demographic developments, a lack of qualified workers in care institutions for the elderly and the growing issue of loneliness for older people are impacting topics.
Around 17 million people in Germany are over the age of 65. 69% of those have stated that loneliness is a problem, their participation in social activities is accordingly low. The results of the situation mentioned are often depression, an early need for care and moving to foster homes.
We start at an earlier stage to prevent this from happening by bringing young and old together through our internet platform. How does that work?
Older people, who are in need of help in their everyday lives and/or wish for a companion, e.g. for a parlour game, can log into our website at http://www.yes-wecare.jimdo.de. Our team identifies and interviews the older person through a phone call, to ensure that we are dealing with a real person who shows genuine interest in our offer. Every young person, who wants to offer their help to the older, will also have to go through this process. On top of that, we will organise personal conversations with those who offer their help, to eliminate the possibility of abuse within our offer.
After this, the “Yes, we care”team will take over and match the people who would make the best fit, according to their profiles.
But why should young people help? Social engagement should not be taken for granted, and that is why we want to offer those who help appealing bounties.
Each completed and successful meeting will be recorded in a point system. Depending on the time, points are awarded. The collected points can eventually be redeemed in our point-catalogue.
We offer five categories from which the young people can choose.
- Education: Certificate, which can be added to application documents and will be taken into account when applying to universities.
- Precaution: Bonus points in your own pension scheme for longterm care insurance
- Sports: Reduced member prices in your regional gym
- Public transport: Cheaper bus and train tickets
- Culture: Cheaper ticket prices
This is how we will connect generations and ensure that older people remain active members of our society.
We will take care of it – Yes, we care!
Photo: (c) Team Gesamtschule Waldbröl
The team selected this topic
New Ways for a Future-proof and Generation-appropriate Care (2018)
In the recent past, life expectancy has expanded significantly while at the same time the birth rates in Europe remained on a low level. As a result, the European population has grown older. That leads to a fundamental challenge for our societies: How can we cover the need of more longtime care for older adults, in particular when they spent their final years in a severe health condition? How can we match this high demand for longtime care in Europe and what costs are related to this issue? We have to find new solutions and ways to create a sustainable and fair care system for all generations.
The Team
Hello everyone!
After the introduction of our teachers Ms Kaiser and Mr Tappert about the YES! competition we were really excited and motivated to be a part of it. We want to
use the chance to be heard and speak up for our ideas and notions. So here is a short introduction to our team!
We are ten students, between 17 and 18 years old and are in grades 11 and 12 of the Gesamtschule Waldbröl. The different ethical and personal backgrounds of
our team members make the working processes more interesting and it helps to get the best solutions possible. We complete each other with our different talents, interests and experiences. This is also an attribute of our school. Students from all over the world – no matter what kind of social status, strengths or weaknesses they portray – are able to learn together and, most importantly – learn from each other. This diversity makes our team special.
For example Daniel, Andreina and Diana are our English professionals. If there are any difficulties in translating or understanding something, we can ask them.
In addition to that Lukas is our calculator. He was blessed with the mathematical brain and is able to prove whether our idea has a logical structure or not.
The creative head of our team is Antonia who masters designs and aesthetical purposes.
The organisation queen is Lea who brings all ideas and solutions together.
Jacky loves new challenges and helps wherever help is needed.
Tom has a taste for topics regarding economy and technology.
For questions in social sciences, we’ve got Samuel. He is very dedicated and knows a lot.
Last but not least, Philip is the one who makes sure that we involve every perspective there is since he includes a lot of thorough thinking in his decisions. But what we all have in common is the striving for improvement and our interests in social and political activities. That’s why indeed, we care
Ageing is the only thing we cannot change. But we can change the conditions how we treat the older generation which is growing thanks to demographic changes
and medical developments. We care about…
…our future
…the older generation
… the care conditions
…YOU
Yes, we care about a future-proof and generation-appropriate care system.
The Gesamtschule Waldbröl online: gesamtschule-waldbroel.de/wp/
Blog posts of this team
Yes, we care! – Gesamtschule Waldbröl
Yes, even we will be old one day - and we want to care! Not only for our future but for the problems that come along with ageing and taking care as well.
