New opportunities for the elderly

Ten partners, including Caritas Bulgaria, have pooled efforts to improve the lives of the elderly through the initiative “Virtual Assistance to the Elderly” launched on 1 October 2017, which is set to continue 3 years.

The initiative aims to help extend the active and independent life of people over the age of 60 years in their own homes and to support the activity of their caregivers (family, acquaintances, providers of social and health services).

Activities are planned to explore the needs of the elderly and to develop sensors and intelligent measuring instruments to easily and quickly transmit health and emotions related information to the relatives of the elderly and to professionals to provide them with the necessary support.

Partners to the initiative, in addition to Caritas Bulgaria, are: Bulgarian Red Cross, European Federation of Elderly People in Austria, leading universities such as Edinburgh University (UK) and Salzburg University Paris Lodron (Austria), Slovenian Research Organizations University Institute for Rehabilitation and Josef Stefan Institute of Technology, proven technology companies such as Bulgaria’s ScaleFocus and Germany’s Interactive Wear AG. Initiative coordinator is the Balkan Institute of Labour and Social Policy in Sofia.

The “Virtual Assistant for the Elderly” initiative is implemented with funding under the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation “Horizon 2020”.