Good morning, everyone, and welcome back to a new article from the Lifely blog.
These days a very interesting EuropeanEuropean event took place, which we would like to tell you about and, most importantly, in which we also had the opportunity to participate: the Ageing Well Week, or the European Week for Healthy and Active Aging.
This year the event took place in Gdańsk, Poland,from October 18 to 20.
Three days full of workshops and events, which will bring about an evolution in the landscape of new technologies having healthy and active aging as their main goal.
But what is Ageing Well Week?
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We are talking about a networking and exchangeplatform involving partners from all over Europeand whose main goal is to find solutions that provide support for healthy and active agingof the elderly population.
The Ageing Well Week is part of the AAL program (Active Assisted Living Program), a European program that, for more than 10 years, has been funding the innovation of projects whose goal is to keep people healthy and happy throughout their old age.
In fact, it is predicted that by 2070 half of the European population will be over 65, which is why it is important to invest in researchof projects that accompany and support people during this period of their lives.
The main goalsof the AAL program are:
- Supporting the development of innovative ICT-based services and systems (Information and Communication Technology) that support active aging;
- Create research groups, that make valuable contributions in this area;
- Promote industrial exploitationof healthy aging products.
We will be there with the Turntable Project, a platform that promotes healthy and active aging through the involvement of the elderly themselves in social farming and gardening recreational activities.
Want to know more about the Turntable project? Read our dedicated article now
The event will feature a packed program, where professionals in the field will bring their contributions, presenting research projects aimed at helping and supporting the elderly population.
In fact, a number of problems loom over this segment of the population: social inclusion, management of chronic conditions, access to online services, mobility, and management of daily activities are just some of the difficulties that an elderly person faces every day.
The main objective of these projects is to address these issues and overcome them, through the use of innovative technologies and ideas.
The three-day program dedicated to these issues is very intense and interesting, full of interactive workshops, debates and match-making activities.
For example, it will discuss how the development of robotics could be a valuable aid to assist the elderly population in daily activities. By analyzing social robotics from a multidimensional perspective, we can better prepare ourselves for a society that is slowly getting older and older.
Another very interesting topic that will be addressed during this important event is the use of videogames to combat dementia.This workshop, called Game4Mind, assumes that video games are a valuable tool for maintaining good cognitive fitness. Participants of that meeting are, therefore, invited to contribute to the prototyping of a new VR video game, based on a clinically validated neuropsychological game.
Finally, the usefulness of applying emerging technologies such as Virtual Reality in palliative care will be discussed.
In conclusion, we can say that aging is a great opportunity. With the right research activities and through the use of the world of connected technology, it will be possible to create solutions and products that can improve everyone’s lives.