American
Women's Club of Oslo P.O. Box 3101 Elisenberg 0207 Oslo,
Norway
(47) 22 64 10 12
senior citizens
Norway has many public programs which help senior citizens both financially
and socially.These programs and
their services are listed below, along with details on where to get additional
information.
Contact:
Your municipal Health and Social Services Office (Helse-
og sosialtjenesten)
For elderly and disabled
persons who need assistance to continue
living at home.
Community nursing
Hjemmesykepleie
Contact:
Your municipal Health and Social Services Office (Helse-
og sosialtjenesten)
Assistance
with treating health problems (taking medicine, changing bandages, getting shots,
recuperating from illness).
Attendance
Allowance
Omsorgslønn
Contact: Your municipal Health and Social
Services Office (Helse- og sosialtjenesten)
Aid
for next of kin (money allowance and workload relief).
Geriatric
Center
Dagsenter
Contact:
Your municipal Health and Social Services Office (Helse-
og sosialtjenesten)
Provides
medical treatment, attention, exercise/activity during the daytime or evening.
Meals
on Wheels
Ombringing
av middagsmat
Contact:
Your municipal Health and Social Services Office (Helse-
og sosialtjenesten)
Pick
up or delivery service of prepared dinners for pensioners.
Emergency
24-Hour Service/Monitoring
Contact:
Your municipal Health and Social Services Office (Helse-
og sosialtjenesten)
Help
for seniors living alone at home – around the clock availability.
Aid-call
Alarms
Trygghetsalarm
Contact: Your municipal Community Nursing
Service (Kommunens hjemmesykepleietjeneste); also
look under ‘trigghetsalarm’ in the telephone directory’s
yellow pages.
Automatic
emergency signal – alerts monitoring center, next of kin, or neighbors.
On-call
Janitor or Handyman
Altmuligmann
Contact:
Your municipal Health and Social Services Office (Helse-
og sosialtjenesten)
Practical
help in homes of elderly and disabled.
Transport
Service
Transportordning
Contact:
Your municipal Health and Social Services Office (Helse-
og sosialtjenesten)
For
disabled persons or others who have great difficulties in using public transportation.
Technical Aids
Tekniske hjelpemidler
Contact:
Your municipal Health and Social Services Office (Helse-
og sosialtjenesten)
local Social Security Office (Trygdekontor)
Financial
support for technical aids to help those with permanent
disabilities.
Hearing
Aids
Høreapparat
Contact:
Your municipal Health and Social Services Office (Helse-
og sosialtjenesten)
Provided
free of charge by the National Insurance, after an exam at a hearing center or
specialist confirms the need.
Physical Therapy
Fysikalsk behandling
Contact:
Your municipal Health and Social Services Office (Helse-
og sosialtjenesten)
Standard
deductibles and rates apply; in-home treatment at no additional charge.
Occupational
Therapy
Ergoterapeut
Contact:
Your municipal Health and Social Services Office (Helse-
og sosialtjenesten)
In-home
training and exercise programs to promote self-reliance.
Dental
Health Service
Tannhelsetjenester
Contact: The Chief County Dental Officer
Provided
by the public dental health care service in the county municipality.
Contact:
your local telephone directory yellow pages
Emergency service
is provided by casualty clinics.Non-emergency service should be
arranged through your private or municipal doctor.
Physical
Therapists, Psychologists, Chiropractors, Speech Therapists, Orthopedic Aids
Contact:
your local telephone directory yellow pages
These
treatments must be recommended by your doctor in order to be fully or partially
covered.
Medicine
Generally, the cost of medicine is the
patient’s responsibility.If the medicine is considered ‘essential’ (blå resept), the costs will be partially
covered by the social security office.
Hospital
Emergency Assistance
Hospitals are obliged to accept and treat
all patients (without a referral from a doctor), in the event of an accident,
life-threatening disease and childbirth.
Hospitalization
Normally, you must be referred by a doctor
in order to be admitted to the hospital.There are waiting lists for illnesses
that do not require immediate treatment.
Hospital
Stays
Staying in a public hospital is free.However, if you are receiving an
old-age pension and you stay more than 4 months, your pension will be reduced.
Contact: Your municipal Health and Social
Services Office (Helse- og sosialtjenesten)
Meeting and information
places for pensioners.Activities may include: exercise
groups, choirs, bridge games, handicrafts, woodworking and weaving.Some centers offer haircuts and
pedicure treatments.Counseling and
guidance services are free, other services (haircuts, etc.) must be paid for.
Pedicure and Hairdressing
Fotpleie
og hårpleie
Contact: Your municipal Health and Social
Services Office (Helse- og sosialtjenesten)
In
many municipalities pensioners can receive regular pedicure and hairdressingservices at reasonable prices.Home
service is available in some areas.
Free
TV/Radio License
Contact:
NRK, Avdeling lisensinnkreving
NRK
License Department Postboks
6008601 Mo
Those
with a permanent serious disability who have difficulty getting out and about
may be granted a fee TV/radio license (one year at a time) if you cannot afford
to pay for the license yourself.
Telephone
Contact for the Elderly and Disabled
Telefonkontakt
Contact: Telefonkontakt for the elderly and disabled
Hausmannsg.
27 0182 Oslo
Tel.: 22
36 00 70
In
many municipalities, an organization which finds telephone friends for elderly
and disabled persons living at home.(free service).
Volunteer Center
Frivilligsentralene
Contact: The municipality (kommunen);
also look under ‘Frivillighetssentral’ in the telephone
directory’s yellow pages.
Municipalities,
organizations or church congregations operate centers which provide various services
(e.g. help with shopping, telephone contact, visitor friends, snow shoveling,
light garden work, accompaniment to the doctor’s office and giving advice).
Visitor
Service and Visiting Friends
Besøkstjeneste/besøksvenner
Contact:
Norges Røde Kors Besøkstjeneste The Norwegian Red Cross Visitor Service Postboks 6875 St. Olavs plass 0130 Oslo
Tel.:
22 94 30 30fax: 22 20 68 40
In
most municipalities, voluntary organizations (often the Red Cross) arrange regular
social visits to your home or retirement or nursing home.
Pensioners’
Friends and Service (PVS)
Contact:
Norse
Ppensjonistforbund The Norwegian Pensioners’ Association Henrik Ibsensg.
7 0179 Oslo
Tel.:
22 11 00 41fax: 22 36 26 56
In
many municipalities, a service to stimulate social contact and provide services
for pensioners (e.g. help with small repairs, painting, light garden work, snow
shoveling, wood chopping, carrying wood, errands, and reading and writing letters).
Senior
Citizen’s Ticket
Honnørbillet
Contact:any travel agent near you or from
any passenger transport company
At
age 67 and above, you receive a 50% discount on almost all trips made in Norway
throughout the year.Your spouse will receive the same
discount when you travel together, no matter how old he or she is.Discount includes travel on trains,
trams, buses, airplanes and boats.
Rail
Europe Senior (RES)
Contact: Norwegian State Railways (NSB)
Tel.: 815 00 888
At
age 60 and above, if you are a permanent resident of Norway, you can use the senior
citizen discount (honnørrabatt)
on trains all over Europe (normally 30% discount for international journeys).
Guidance
about Your Rights
Contact:
Kontoret fro fri rettshjelp Free Legal Aid Office Storg.
100184 Oslo
Tel.: 22 42
52 60
Juridisk rådgivning for kvinner Legal Aid for Women Tullins gate 4c0130 Oslo
Tel.: 22 85 19 00
The
Social Services office can advise and inform you about rules concerning pensioners’
rights and your entitlement to social benefits.Under certain conditions, free legal aid is available.
Pensioner
Counseling
Contact: Your municipal Health and Social
Services Office (Helse- og sosialtjenesten)
In
many municipalities, counseling services are available in the areas of taxes,
banking, insurance and legal issues.
Old-age
Pensions from the National Insurance Scheme
Alderspensjon
Contact: Your local Social Security Office
(Trygdekontor)
To receive the full
basic pension you must have 40 years’ social security time (trydetid).(the pension will be reduces for
less than 40 years accumulated).Everyone
who has at least 3 years’ social security time is entitled to some pension benefits (special conditions
apply – see UDI pamphlet for details).
Supplementary
Pension
Tilleggspensjon
Contact: Your local Social Security Office
(Trygdekontor)
For
those pensioners who have been in paid employment and have earned pension points
from age of 17 until age 69 (special conditions apply – see UDI pamphlet for details).
Special
Increment
Særtillegg
Contact: Your local Social Security Office
(Trygdekontor)
For
those pensioners with few or no pension points, a special increment is given in
place of or in addition to the supplementary pension (special conditions apply
– see UDI pamphlet for details).
Provider
Increment
Ektefelletillegg
Contact: Your local Social Security Office
(Trygdekontor)
For
those pensioners who are providing for a spouse and children (special conditions
apply – see UDI pamphlet for details).
Disability
Pension from the National Insurance Scheme
Uførepensjon
Contact: Your local Social Security Office
(Trygdekontor)
For
those persons who have lost at least 50% of their ability to earn income from
employment because of permanent (special conditions apply – see UDI pamphlet for
details).
Old-age Pension
and Taxes
Contact: The tax office where you live
Pensioners
must pay taxes on their pension, but pay less taxes than those who are earning
an income from work
All information
presented here was taken from the UDI pamphlet Senior Citizens,
part of a series entitled “For You – an
Immigrant in Norway”.Senior Citizens was published by the Directorate
of Immigration, 1996.The information
in the pamphlet is up-to-date as of 25 September 1996.
To obtain a copy
of Senior Citizens (or any other pamphlet in the series) contact:
Utlendingsdirektoratet
Tolke- og informasjonsavdelingen Postboks 8108 Dep 0032 Oslo
Fax: 67 12 52 72
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