TECH CARE: Training on the adaptability of the Assisted Living Technologies in home and community care

AGREEMENT n° 2017-1-DE02-KA202-004212

Projetc aim: Promoting the ethical and practical adaptation of assisted living technologies in long term care.

Context: Due to demographic ageing, the number of people in potential need of Long Term Care (LTC) services in the EU is estimated to increase by 30% between 2013 and 2060. The impact of this development in LTC and especially in elderly care is already being felt today and is particularly acute mainly due to:

Higher incidence of chronic diseases and growing demands and expectations from citizens for higher quality services and social care.

EU policy measures for patient empowerment and emphasis on long term care.

A widening gap between increasing demand for services on the one hand and the supply of care provision (informal as well as formal) on the other.

The rapid advance of Assisted Living Technologies mainly derives from the necessity for a citizen-centered, convincing solution to all the above needs. According to most recent surveys, technological developments will significantly impact long term care services, as we are entering the time where the holistic health and wellness of the citizens cannot be separated from the appropriate use of technology. Nevertheless, the term “appropriate use” presupposes the ethical and practical validation of the user-centered approach and of the intrusion level of ALT’s into the personal sphere of the elderly beneficiaries. The main objective of the TECH CARE project is to introduce and train the direct target groups on acting as evaluators and primary level counselors upon the ethical and practical challenges that determine the acceptability of ALT’s into home and community care. These challenges correspond to three main education and training needs:

a) Critical validation of the scope, function and data requirements of the ALT’s

b) Adaptation of the assisted living technologies and domotics in relation to:

- The different living environments and the physical, mental condition of each beneficiary (chronic diseases, dementia, etc.)
- The role of the caregivers and their smooth “cooperation” with ALT’s

c) Elaboration of the impact assisted living technologies have on core ethical principles and practical issues that affect the personal integrity and consequently the behavior and acceptability of the beneficiaries towards ALT’s as it is:

• Privacy
• Autonomy
• Obtrusiveness
• Preservation of social contact, avoidance of passivity due to automation