19 May Pharaon Posts! Henrique Silva, Portuguese Pilot
Ageing Thinking
Having in mind that the quality and access to Care represents only 20% of the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH), the Portuguese pilot outlined a strategy focused on bringing healthy behaviors and environments into the heart of Health and Care, thus bridging the concepts of smart cities and compassionate cities, by creating a supportive ecosystem with, and for, older adults, across public, private, voluntary and community sector organizations.
The ageing challenges that we face are within our reach if we manage to think and feel them as ours, and not theirs. Following this ecological perspective, three interlinked scenarios were co-designed to meet, not only end-users’ needs, but also expectations, limits and preferences.
In scenario 1, our aim is to enhance the opportunities for older adults to participate in the community life through 4 different actions: digitally accelerating our proximity-volunteering program, thus promoting a greater engagement; developing an accessible solution to provide Services on demand from local businesses, thus strengthening community ties; bringing citizens closer to the city council through the means of an app to report city accessibility issues, thus increasing city walkability and inclusiveness; building a repository of green and blue areas close by to increase citizens’ knowledge and time spent in natural environments, thus promoting enjoyment of city’s surroundings.
In scenario 2, our aim is to increase the opportunities for lifelong learning and experiences sharing through 2 different actions/community spaces. Both Carer Campus and Social Incubator will comprise intergenerational physical and digital infrastructures to deliver a capacity building framework targeting care skills, soft skills and digital skills, leveraged on mentoring and counseling principles.
Last, but not least, scenario 3 will aim at ensuring a safe and comfortable environment by providing Integrated Care services at home and by giving the much-needed step toward Ambient Assisted Living. These 2 actions will be leveraged on non-intrusive technology solutions that address older adults’ health and care needs according to the integrated and person-centered care models developed in the two pilot sites (Coimbra, located in the Centro Region of Portugal and Amadora, located in the metropolitan area of Lisbon).
This common systemic vision around building community at the individual, organizational and environmental levels is what we call ageing thinking.
Download Henrique Silva – Pharaon Post as .pdf (click here)
