access to services | Thematic areas | Ageing in the Digital Age

E-Senior / Digital Greater Poland/ Silesian Academy of Senior/MEW@

The aim of the projects E-Senior / Digital Greater Poland / Silesian Academy of Senior /MEW@ is to activate persons over 65 in the area of digital competences through training and animation activities.

The results of the projects are the inclusion of Seniors in building the information society in Poland, the development of functional digital competences and the abilities of using IT in everyday life.

The trainings implemented as part of the projects enable each project participant to acquire very practical skills of:

using the Internet, computer, phone, tablet and other IT devices;
shaping the competences that are helpful in the everyday life of a Senior (online communication,

e-services including online shopping and banking, medical services, e-government and more).

The project includes various activities with Seniors, among them the following can be distinguished:

I. Training of digital competences:

basic level – adapted to the needs and capabilities of Seniors (subject, time and atmosphere of classes), are carried out in two versions:

standard training – 60 hours of classes for persons with minimal experience in using the computer and the Internet;
extended training – 90 hours of classes for persons who do not have experience in online communication and work with the computer, and due to their health condition or disability, require longer support.

advanced level – 30 hours of additional thematic training for persons who will want to deepen basic digital competences (e.g. in the field of digital photography, blogosphere, online finance, etc.

II. Animation projects – group activities activating Seniors in the local community using functional digital competences and IT tools (e.g. creating online discussion and hobby groups, book clubs, film, art, photography or tourism, local culture and history lovers‘ clubs, creating websites / blogs by enthusiasts, etc.)

Projects implemented in partnership, and the project promoter is the Foundation for Social Participation.

Projects co-financed by the European Union under the Operational Program Digital Poland for 2014-2020.

Source: https://cyfrowy-senior.com/, https://www.cyfrowa-wlkp.com/cel-projektu/, http://cyfrowy-slask.com/, https://cyfrowa-mewa.com/

Access date: 29.03.2022

We owe it to them

1 out of 6 pensioners has paid a bribe in the public service (especially in the field of health services), according to the survey from 2018. Seniors are also more likely to believe the disinformation.

Transparency International Slovakia therefore launched a project to raise their awareness called “We owe it to them”. Seniors are riddled with manipulation and corruption that only a quarter of them would report. Their vulnerability is related to lower awareness and also to their ability to distinguish facts from misinformation. Therefore, Transparency prepared a two-year project where they supported the education of seniors in the form of training (within whole Slovakia to educate at least 1,500 seniors) to better protect them from corruption or manipulation.

They also developed:

Transparency academy (focused on Local Government, Public expenditure, Justice and info-law, Education, Officials and ethics, Health and Critical thinking via quizzes, guides, practical advice and answers and stories – podcasts);
rankings and portals (Ranking of hospitals, Open Local Government, Public companies, Bugles, Open Courts, Open prosecution, Map of family connections in the judiciary, Open government contracts, Corona subsidies);
publications and a book called “The power of corruption”.

Source: https://transparency.sk/sk/dlhujemeimto

Access date: 04.11.2021

The Silver Code

Living both in a rapidly developing digital world and in aging society, the Silver Code project goal is to make older learners active players and citizens, equipped with competences required by our hyper connected world.

The main Silver Code project objective is to increase the digital literacy of older learners and offer basic knowledge and skills in coding.

Older EU citizens from the 27 EU countries are both the target group, reached through direct activities (30 learners per partner country will take part in the training activities), and direct beneficiaries, reached through peer-to-peer learning methods and dissemination events (about 100 people per partner country). A relevant number of participants, among older people, will be medium-high skilled, such as retired professionals and older people being professionally active and willing to improve their knowledge and competencies.

This will be reached through:

The development of a training course, delivered by professional trainers (for theory and general supervision) and youngsters, possibly ICT students, expert on coding, acting as “tutors”(for the practical sessions).
Creation of a “Silver Coding” community based on tools such as platform, forum, social network groups.

Source: https://www.utzo.si/en/projekti/silver-code/

Access date: 30.09.2021

SPERO – Social Communication Platform for Seniors

Seniors living in their home face a great risk of loneliness. The risk is much higher when the extended family is not living in the same house. Usually they are linked to the local environment through church visits, doctor visits, grocery shop, newspapers and television. The project develops an innovative social communication platform and end-user device designed for seniors who can easily communicate to everybody who joins the platform. They are able to read news; they can be immediately informed on the local events, sport activities, clubs’ activities. It can be used also as a reminder. The end-user device is designed to have only five buttons. It is connected to TV since it is senior’s prime display in the house. By implementing new communication channel to seniors, and sourcing multiple digital communication channels of senior’s friends, family, local community and care organization, we can tackle the social isolation problem raised by the introduction of the digital communication in the society.

Source: Development Centre oft he Heart of Slovenia

Access date: 12.12.2021

PHARAON – Pilots for Healthy and Active Ageing

The overall objective of the PHArA-ON project is to provide support for Europe’s ageing population by integrating digital services, devices, and tools into open platforms that can be readily deployed while maintaining the dignity of older adults and enhancing their independence, safety, and capabilities. The project will utilise a range of digital tools including connected devices (e.g., the Internet of Things, IoT), artificial intelligence, robotics, cloud and edge computing, smart wearables, big data, and intelligent analytics that will be integrated to provide personalised and optimised health care delivery.

The Slovenian pilot aims at improving well-being through passive monitoring using a variety of sensing devices like wearables, sensors embedded in furniture, and environmental sensors.

During the pre-validation phase, a number of Pharaon technologies were used to monitor physiological indicators of residents directly (wearables, imbedded sensors), as well as to monitor their environment (environmental sensors, embedded sensors): SmartHabits (ENT), InvisibleCare, IoChat, IoTool (Senlab), Amicare (CETEM), MOX wearable (MAIN), Wearables (CORO), Discovery (Ascora). Furthermore, a system was tested to easily browse events, register, and potentially arrange transit using a familiar system, like a television with remote control using the following Pharaon technologies: IoChat, IoTool, SeniorsPhone, InvisibleCare (Senlab), Sentab system (SenTab). The communication support tools are centered on an easy to use, television-based communication tool (Daisy, SenLab) and a smartphone interface designed specifically with older adults in mind, with chat and other communication tools supported as well.

Source: National Institute of Public Health of Republic of Slovenia

Access date: 01.03.2022

m-Ageing

Digital inclusion and active ageing: Developing a user-centered methodological approach to investigate the use of mobile phones among older people. Development of a model of user involvement for studying the needs, use, usability and benefits related to assistive technologies integrated in mobile phones.

PROBLEM

The need of older adults to live at home for as long as possible;
Economically unsustainable health and social care systems;
Burdened informal carers.

SOLUTION

Model of user involvement which is involving older adults and informal carers in 3

stages of the R&D:

eliciting user needs and generating design ideas;
evaluating selected mobile application in lab setting and real environment and generating redesign ideas; and
evaluating redesign ideas.

IMPACT

Potential for triple-win outcome: improved QoL of older people nad informal carers,

financial gains for the health and social care sector, new market opportunities.

TRANSFERABILITY

Has been (and will be) applied by other companies and researchers, as well as within EU

project proposals.

SOURCE OF FUNDING

Slovenian National Research Agency and Simobil

Source: UNI Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences, Ceneter for Social Informatics

Access date: 14.10.2021

HoCare

Innovative solutions for Home Care by strengthening quadruple-helix cooperation in regional innovation chains. Ageing of the population is challenge for all EU regions. But it means at the same time also an opportunity for growh and jobs as there is created great potentila to dleiver innovative solution for home care. Objective of HoCare project is to boost delivery of home careinnovative solutions by strengthening of cooperation of actors in regional innovation system using Qudruple-helix approach, which is an innovation cooperation model where users, business, research actors/universities and public authorities cooperate in order to produce innovation. Government, industry, academia and civil participants work together to co-create structural changes far beyond the scope of what any organization or person could do alone.

Link to the video – thematic workshop Slovenia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B8VKXRMNFI&t=5s

Source: Interreg Europe HoCare Project

Access date: 14.10.2021

EkoSMART – Smart Integrated Healthcare and Longterm Care System

EkoSMART (Smart Integrated Healthcare and Longterm Care System) is a large research project in Slovenija. One of its field of research (smart integrated healthcare and longterm care system) aims to enable elderly population, people with chronic diseases, dementia or other health conditions, longer, more active and safer conditions to remain living independent in their own homes, resulted in a social care service based on IoT (Internet of Things) and person-centered technologies, available 24 hours a day. The technology supporting the service detects a need for intervention if a user is due to falling or other difficult health condition not able to make an urgent call.

EkoSMART is developing approaches and prototypes to ensure the basic conditions for effective transformation to integrated healthcare and home care system. It provides: integration of different levels of healthcare, effective and secure exchange of information among different stakeholders of the healthcare system on the national level (national registers, accounting system, big data analysis) and basic conditions for development and sustainability of the healthcare and social system.

The main goals are:

development of a model of integrated healthcare provision and the establishment of related infrastructure,
development of a systemic foundations for extending the model of integrated healthcare provision,
raise the quality of life and safety of chronic patients and extended care,
safe use of medicines and reduced number of referrals to clinical pharmacologists.

Source: Telekom Slovenia https://www.telekom.si/zasebni-uporabniki/ponudba/e-oskrba

Access date: 12.12.2021

Digital Inclusion and Active Ageing Developing a user-centred methodological approach to investigate the use of mobile phone among older people

Contemporary societies are facing two striking trends: widespread population ageing and rapid diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Since old age often implies ailing health and social isolation, societies could embrace the advances in ICTs to enhance social integration, health and active ageing. However, the complexity and novelty of ICTs threaten many older people with exclusion from their use. Older people could be offered eservices, which would improve their quality of life, if based on age friendly design. Although digital inclusion is strongly advocated in the EU research and policy strategies and associated with positive outcomes such as high quality of life for older people, and new market opportunities for ICT system providers, the uptake of assistive technologies (ATs) among elderly is slow-moving. In this context, mobile phones (MPs) represent an opportunity for digital inclusion due to their already widespread use among the elderly. Therefore, the project is directed towards studying sociotechnical affordances of ATs in mobile phones to foster inclusive and empowered ageing of the heterogeneous group of the elderly.

The project brings together over two decades of internationally recognized interdisciplinary research by the project team in areas of (a) social informatics, (b) social science methodology, including mixed-methods data collection and evaluation designs for elderly, (c) gerontology, (d) experience with large international (FP5, FP6, FP7, COST Actions, LLP, Interreg) empirical digital inclusion projects and (e) developments of web applications for elderly (online learning games).

Source (access date): Simobil – Slovenian Telecommunication Operator

Access date: 12.12.2021

CODECATZ

In Slovenia there have been several initiatives important for spreading coding, among socially disadvantaged groups among which CodeCatz. CodeCatz ended up founding Django Girls Store, a non-profit organisation that empowers and helps women to organize free, one-day programming workshops by providing tools, resources and support. Their goal is to bring more amazing women into the world of technology and increase the diversity in the tech community. They believe that. They are making technology more approachable by creating simple tools and resources designed with empathy. During the Code Week Slovenian Third Age University and Katja Koren Ošljak made a step further towards older people’s coding.

Django Girls is a non-profit organization and a community that empowers and helps women to organize free, one-day programming workshops by providing tools, resources and support. During each of our events, 30-60 women build their first web application using HTML, CSS, Python and Django.

Source: Django Girsl & The Slovenian Universitxy of Third Age

Access date: 14.10.2021