During the lockdown, the elderly of the Alberto Sordi Foundation learned to use digital technologies. Ucbm students were involved.
August 20th, 2020 - Fragile elderly people over seventy-five who learn to use digital technologies to overcome isolation and recreate a supportive community: they are the men and women of the day-time centre of the Alberto Sordi Foundation. They are between 75 and 95 years old and this year the closure of the center has prevented them from meeting in the common areas, suddenly cutting off those essential habits to maintain that essential physical and mental well-being for people of their age. Thanks to the project “The Center at home” wanted by Alberto Sordi Foundation, Digital World Foundation e Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma their meetings continued in the "virtual rooms" animated by mobile phones, tablets and PCs.
Thus the day care center changed its skin in the midst of the Covid-19 emergency and, to ensure the continuity of services, it was transformed into a digital space for sharing experiences and emotions. Men and women met together with operators and volunteers in videoconferencing to read the newspapers together, tell their day, thoughts and worries from the armchair of their own home, building together a new "social environment" through the internet and new technologies .
Thanks to the operators of the Foundation and the Alberto Sordi Association, to the collaboration of the educators of the Digital World Foundation and to a group of students from the faculties of Medicine, Engineering and Food Sciences of theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma who have acted as volunteers, the elderly are once again protagonists maintaining or recovering good psychophysical conditions even in times of physical distancing.
"The challenge arose with the closure of the centre, when we felt the need to digitally rethink the activities we offered to our guests – Francesca explains The Spoto, professional educator engaged every day with the elderly of the Alberto Sordi Foundation – We have started small groups of five people, in order to be able to follow both the digital literacy processes and to encourage meeting and socialization which is more complex through tablets and mobile phones".
To date, there are 2 working groups made up of 5 elderly people each, assisted by 2 volunteers from theAlberto Sordi association and by a psychologist. Through video communication platforms, elderly people connect from their home and participate in two meetings a week that last a maximum of 2 hours, also due to the difficulties in remaining concentrated in front of the video for longer.
"The meetings started with teaching how to use digital tools – he explains again The Spoto - for example, dedicating 10 minutes to how to activate/deactivate the microphone of the platform, to know what the internet is, in short, to provide a background of basic knowledge in order to be able to use digital technologies. Each meeting has a specific theme and this allows people to arrive prepared, find photos and memories to tell about themselves and their experiences in front of others".
A technologically new and socially well-known way for the elderly to get together, enlivened by original information activities such as the press review of good news or curiosities about the city of Rome and its history. During the meetings, there was also the time to celebrate birthdays with a toast, play moments with crossword puzzles or other cognitive stimulation activities, all rigorously mediated by a device and the watchful eye of a camera.
“One aspect I would like to highlight – Cyrus explains Intino, director of the Alberto Sordi Foundation - the importance of working in a network, in synergy with other subjects who operate with adequate professionalism and skills because they are sensitive to the new needs emerging from the reference territorial environment. The Fondazione Mondo Digitale known to us thanks to the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome has been able to support the Alberto Sordi Onlus Association called to "remodulate" - in the emergency period from COVID 19 - in tele-assistance its traditional treatment intervention social assistance with the elderly. It was an important experience that made us experiment with new forms of personalized assistance and that projects us into a future that seems to have already begun”.
“This project is a challenge in which we wanted to participate due to a profound conviction: the importance of intergenerational exchange. After an initial start-up phase, in fact, we involved a group of 11 volunteer university students from the degree courses in Food Sciences and Human Nutrition, Nursing Sciences and Medicine and Surgery – says Professor Simonetta Filippi, vice-rector for university education of theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma - The aim is to encourage dialogue and a spirit of service to effectively remove the burden of loneliness from the lives of elderly people. We also believe that this activity is an asset for seniors and students who actually learn from each other in a context of sharing experiences of humanity.”