(eng)aging! 2021 Virtual Conference

The goal of our "Care at Home" project is to provide support to informal carers in the Czech Republic. Empowering informal caregivers means putting people in control of their own lives and wellbeing, enabling them to regain and sustain their independence and improve their quality of life. It also features a new way of multidisciplinary cooperation, which represents a radical shift away from siloed medical interventions towards a model featuring non-medical support delivered by multidisciplinary teams including the NGO sector.

"Care at Home" project has developed a new Pečuj doma web portal for informal carers featuring the unique search engine for social services / support across the Czech Republic.

As the second stage of this “ICT to help informal carers” solution we plan to develop a smart Care-At-Home application for mobile devices in cooperation with university project and tech companies. The application would further expand the smart feature list to include the description of individual needs and dependence. More detailed in presentation.

Information and communication technologies have considerable potential to support independence and health of seniors, as well as providing new opportunities for industry and service providers. Technology is seen as possible solutions to increasing demands being made on health care services through population aging and rising costs, while at the same time meeting seniors’ aspirations to “age-in-place” The emerging “Fourth Industrial Revolution” will increasingly see the fusion of the digital, physical and biological domains, with huge potential human, social and economic benefits, for example in the treatment and eradication of the diseases of old age. However, the wider impact of technological change is highly unpredictable and this paper outlines some of the potential benefits of technology, but also highlights some of the key problem areas, such as unequal access and use of emerging technologies. It is crucial that all stakeholders and users work towards new solutions for older adults that can limit risks, provide meaningful contributions, and to align positive goals for the future.

Contact with the social network using email or social media can positively contribute to older adults’ perceived well-being, and also, in part, by alleviating loneliness. However, there still is a high rate of older adults who rarely use email or social media to connect with their social networks. Because face-to-face social contact and support are restricted during the pandemic outbreak, using digital technology or online communities, as a means to communicate with family members and friends, has become more prevalent, or even essential for older adults. Public health authorities and health education should prioritize policies that provide necessary digital infrastructure and digital behavior intervention in order to help older adults better develop the skills and knowledge and increase competence in using communicative technology and smart devices.

Since people live longer, partnering in later life is becoming more common in comparison to previous decades. Yet, dating patterns and intimate relationships have changed significantly due to the increasing development of new means of communication and access to the Internet among older people. The use of ICT has also played an important role during the recent spread of COVID-19. Dating apps and online dating sites are seen as an alternative way to connect emotionally, sexually and intimately, enhance social inclusion, and reduce loneliness and boredom during the pandemic. This paper casts light on the representations of online dating and sexual experiences as represented in American writer Erica Jong's later-life work. Jong’s position as a spokeswoman of the American post-war generation is especially relevant, given that the female representatives of the baby-boom generation are now approaching their latest stages in life, and are exposed to new age-related challenges. By showing how Jong’s heroine negotiates her cyberspace dating and intimate relationships, this paper provides new vantage points to better understand the complex realities of sexuality and ageing in today’s technology-dominated society. It also contributes to a critical examination of interrelationships between ageing and technologies with a special focus on online dating and older women users