UNS — The students from Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta provide assistance for the caregiver to improve the psychological well-being of the elderly in Griya Palang Merah Indonesia (PMI-Indonesia Red Cross) Peduli, Surakarta. The assistance was delivered in a form of training using origami envelope and smiling yoga for the elderly people staying in Griya PMI Peduli. The students are Diah Nova Anggraini, Zainab Zukhrufa, and Intan Kusumadewi from the Psychology Study Program, Faculty of Medical Science (FK) UNS, and Ghoni Arifin from Sociology and Anthropology Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP) UNS.
Griya PMI Peduli Surakarta has two wards, the Griya Bahagia and Griya Peduli. Griya Bahagia is designed for elderly people who do not family members, while Griya Peduli is designed for People with Mental Disorder (ODGJ). Diah Nova as the leader of the team explains that they initially started the activity during an assignment from the Community Psychology course. “The idea of this community engagement is started from the assignment in Community Psychology class by one of the members, which took place in Griya Bahagia. The assignment raises an idea regarding the condition of the elderly living in the ward, which can be to have insufficient psychological well-being. The majority of the elderly people living in the ward also have a stroke, thus limiting their movement, interaction, and become less independent or dependent on the nurses,” she explains during an interview with uns.ac.id on Wednesday (23/9/2020).
Origami envelops and smiling yoga is chosen because it can improve the positive aspects of relationships with others, self-growth independence, and mastery of the elderly’s environment. They will recruit the elderly assistance in Griya PMI Peduli, with the hope that these activities can be implemented independently by the elderly assistant in Griya Bahagia.
Diah hopes that the program initiated by their team can be implemented, not only in Griya Bahagia but also by other elderly people both at the elderly house and those staying home. “Hopefully, this origami envelops and smiling yoga can be implemented for elderly people in the nursery house or at home. Moreover, this method does not need many movements and can be easily done by elderly people with limited movement. This activity also has many benefits to the elderly, such as self-development, independence, and building relationships with other people,” she concluded. Humas UNS
Reporter: Bayu Aji Prasetya
Editor: Dwi Hastuti
