Interactive workshops at the forum: Theme 1 (part 1)
The AAL Forum 2019 is now just two months away, and starting this week we will be giving you a taster of all of the interactive workshops that will be taking place over the course of the event.
As the format of the AAL Forum has evolved over the last decade, its emphasis on interactivity has increased. The workshops that are held each year represent the pinnacle of this focus on sharing knowledge, best practice and experiences, and this year’s selection of sessions promises to be one of the best we’ve ever put together.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be talking you through the workshops that we have organised for the AAL Forum 2019, which have been grouped together according to theme. This week we are taking a look at the first half of workshops that address our first theme, “Successful implementation – How do we ensure better, more efficient and long-term implementation?”.
SEE OUR FULL PROGRAMME OF WORKSHOPS
Public R&D funding instruments and market uptake
Tuesday 24 September
9:00-10:30
Taxpayers’ money is invested in industry and researchers to perform R&D and stimulate innovations. We should reasonably expect that this increases the added value of products and services, strengthens the EU market, and multiplies the invested money for the sake of citizens’ wellbeing. But have you ever thought that we should be getting more value for money? If so, then this might be the workshop for you.
We want to hear from people who are experienced in using public R&D funding to create impact in the field of AHA. We want to hear about your most successful experiences and also your complete disasters. Ove the course of the workshop, we will help everyone who attends to learn something about making a success of public funding, answering questions such as: How can we get the most out of public R&D funding instruments? Is there any “market uptake by design”? What are the drivers for success? How can we improve existing funding instruments to make them more efficient?
The Compaan tablet, a successful example of eHealth implementation
Tuesday 24 September
9:00-9:45
In Velsen, a small city in the Netherlands, 60 non-digital older adults received a Compaan, a tablet designed especially to help older people strengthen their social network. The results were impressive. After six months, loneliness reduced from 85 per cent to just 25 per cent, with 64 per cent of users developed a more extensive social network both on and offline.
This workshop is aimed at people who are active in the social domain, civil servants and representatives of professional caregivers. It will provide insight into the do’s and don’ts of successful e-health implementation, and will also provide a real-world example of how technology can really help people to become less lonely. Led by Ton Baakman, project manager, and Joost Hermanns, founder of Compaan, the workshop will analyse the processes they went through in establishing the project, their objectives, the achieved results and what they mean, and finally their learnings.
A quick guide to IoT: opportunities and barriers for the implementation of IoT projects
Tuesday 24 September
9:45-10:30
This workshop aims to demystify projects that work with the Internet of Things, explaining what is going on behind the often shiny exterior of what technologies can do.
In an environment of ‘realism meets optimism’, the workshop will identify practical obstacles and how to overcome them, which will be based on insights from industry professionals, real cases, as well as input from the participants. Participants can expect to come away with a map of some AAL IoT-enabled projects across Europe, and a list of barriers and ways of overcoming these for implementation within their own projects.
Implementing a new technological workflow in socio-educational work
Tuesday 24 September
9:00-9:45
The Centre of Supported Housing in Aarhus has gained experience implementing a new technological workflow in socio-educational work through the ongoing application of virtual in-house support (support via video calls). The workshop will discuss the value of the citizen before participants are invited to actively interact in practical exercises, thinking about: how do we reach when we get new tools in our hands? What challenges do we meet when socio-educational work is moved from a physical to a virtual space?
At the end of the session, we will collectively reflect on the organisational and economic parameters that are needed for successful implementation, the need for development of qualifications, the importance of management focus, and the long-term outcome perspectives when investing in new technological solutions.
Implementation of assisted living technology in elder care in Aarhus
Tuesday 24 September
9:45-10:30
How do we ensure that assisted living technologies are implemented and used to their full potential? The municipality of Aarhus has been implementing technologies in care homes and the homes of elderly and impaired citizens for over ten years. Over this time, organisations, processes and other tools have been developed to ensure that products and services are implemented and used properly.
This workshop, led by implementation consultants Louise Koppel and Susanne Riiser, will present methods based on both experience and theory, and invite participants to reflect on how to transfer elements of this successful method into their own technology. Participants can also expect to hear different views and perspectives on the difficult process of implementing assisted living technology to its full potential.
Mythbusters: Empowering people with dementia / VR-Glasses as an activity for citizens with dementia
Tuesday 24 September
16:00-17:30
Many myths and false notions, fed by lack of knowledge, taboos and fear, surround dementia. Unfortunately, many caregivers, professionals and organisations contribute to these myths. In this session we would like to address some of the most common misconceptions and change the perspective of our participants on what it means to have dementia and what people with dementia need to be able to participate in daily life. We want people to consider how we can support people with dementia, and what technology developers can incorporate in their vision when they conceptualise new ideas
The workshop will then take a closer look at the VR Glasses project for care-homes in Aarhus, Denmark. Louise Rønne Bengtson from the Municipality of Aarhus has developed 360-degree videos which are used as an activity for people with dementia. We will ask participants for their views on this activity, which videos work well for the different people with different types of dementia ,and what other prerequisites are important.
Take a closer look at the preliminary programme to start planning your AAL Forum visit and make the most of what is on offer!