The ACE project recently embarked on its journey to accelerate the future of home care with an inaugural workshop held in Sweden.
Facilitated by the research institute and innovation partner RISE, regional innovation company Innovation Skåneand the Municipality of Höganäs, this event marked the first step towards understanding the complex needs and challenges faced by the project's main target group, elderly adults aiming to maintain their independent and healthy lives. Moreover, to obtain a complete perspective, the workshop brought together diverse stakeholders from the Quadruple Helix (e.g. care providers, businesses (SMEs) and older adults) to create a united front in addressing these issues.
The primary objective of the workshop was to capture a comprehensive array of perspectives related to the lives of older adults and the obstacles they confront. This task was not limited to one country but aimed to encapsulate the unique needs of participating stakeholders. Citizens, caregivers, care professionals, businesses, and academia were all invited to share their viewpoints, forming a holistic understanding of the challenges at hand.By embracing this multifaceted approach, the workshop aimed not only to identify current issues but also to learn from historical challenges and solutions in other domains.
The core of the workshop lay in its engagement with future challenges likely to be encountered by home care. These challenges explored areas such as well-being, quality of life, social engagement, mobility, self-care, medication and self-monitoring.
Lastly, taking a broader approach, participants delved into the complexities of bridging the digital divide in elderly care. Rapid technological advancements have transformed various aspects of our lives, but they have also brought about challenges related to digital literacy, cognitive barriers, and the need for new competencies. Some of the insights obtained during the workshop are addressed in aWorkshop Video, where Viktor Björk (Call Knut) underlines:
The home care challenges and related solutions are known to the municipalities or businesses but perhaps not so much to the elderly population which they aim to target.
This is why the involvement of all relevant target groups and end-users is the highest priority in ACE activities. The ACE project's first quadruple helix workshop in Höganäs laid the groundwork for 7 more workshops to be organized in Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. As the project continues, the lessons learned from this inaugural event will serve as a bedrock for envisioning a future where older adults not only lead independent lives but thrive within a supportive and inclusive society.
The journey has just begun, and the ACE project is well positioned to help define the future of home care in the North Sea countries.
