agathe - Thuringian Initiative Against Loneliness
The City of Jena is the sponsor of the Agathe project. Funding from the Thuringian Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Labor, and Family is channeled to ÜAG gGmbH Jena to carry out the project.
The state funding program “Agathe—Aging in the Community—Thuringian Initiative Against Loneliness” aims to meet the existing need for low-threshold counseling, information, and referral services for older adults in the post-retirement phase through the deployment of 2.5 trained mobile specialists. The primary target group consists of older adults who live alone in their own households.
The program’s objectives include:
- Supporting a self-determined, independent, and participatory lifestyle in old age through professional, preventive services (empowerment)
- Enabling the reactivation of forgotten and lost skills (resource orientation)
- Providing referral counseling and information
- Maintaining quality of life in the home environment (preventing neglect)
- Preventing social isolation through (re)activation and ensuring participation in social life
- Stabilization through personal support during life crises and, if necessary, referral to specific counseling centers
- Further development and training of inclusive social spaces with regard to the needs of older adults
- Initiating collaboration with local organizations, agencies, and initiatives to support older adults in need in accessing available services and to motivate them to launch their own initiatives.
Project period: September 1, 2021 – December 31, 2026