The program thāllo is a standard entertainment program for people hosted in local Elderly Care Units, mainly concerned with reinforcing the infrastructure of the elderly entertainment system. It is an initiative of the seveneleven theatre company and is implemented with a founding grant by Stavros Niarchos
Foundation (SNF). The action is based on active rather than passive involvement of the elderly. Each meeting encourages creativity through art, while other activities such as playing selected board games, extensive discussions on self-selected topics, role-playing games and singing, as well as special activities introduced in Greece for the first time, such as the Isolated Listening Method and virtual reality. This way, the elderly are actively involved in the process. Particular emphasis is put on the individual engagement with the guests and the urge to create, while there is also a separate activity involving those confined to bed, a category of guests with a growing population, the needs of which we need to assess. The recreational model that the program proposes and implements, activates and evokes intense emotional reactions, removes the thought from pain, reduces stress, offering an antianxiety effect, and helps in the great fight against depression. In addition, it stimulates self-concentration and aids memory, two of the most basic mental functions. The program thāllo strives to improve the day-to-day lives of people hosted in local Elderly Care Units, through an interactive recreational action that benefits hundreds of people every week.
