The Platform
The Platform
Architectural Design Studio for Masters’ level students at Politecnico di Milano AUIC School of Architecture, on how to design inclusive spaces in all scales, from urban spaces to furniture design, with a special focus on age-friendly housing. The course is supervised by two professors: an architect and a sociologist. The interaction with other generations is always promoted in the design process to avoid ageism. Students are challenged with out-of-the-box older people types (Patti Smith, Clint Eastwood, Meredith Monk, etc.) to broaden their view of older people’s diversity and capacities. Students get basic rules and are required to interview older couples, usually their relatives, enquiring what older people value the most in their living spaces and which major problems they face to remain and age in place. Based on this enquiry and given lectures, students must design mixed function buildings (housing, commerce, offices) focused on the ageing population, their needs, and aspirations, together with young adults in intergenerational communities. Students must also study the surroundings of the chosen site to understand the provision or lack of services in a walking radius, therefore integrating in their hybrid buildings the lacking services. They must also design the urban spaces surrounding their buildings to promote the use of outside spaces and active ageing. Accessibility and universal design are key concepts for all spaces, interior or external. Students in the Design Studio come from all continents, therefore the course’s impact on future generations of architects is intended to be global, after these students go back to their home countries and put in practice what they have learned.
MoreWithin the SHAI program, funded by the EU and implemented by UNOPS in Serbia, UNFPA Country Office Serbia implemented a project on supporting older persons’ access to services during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. The specific objectives of the project were: i) provide support to the most vulnerable groups among older persons (OP) to understand and access their rights and needs ii) provide capacity support to local institutions and organizations to understand and better respond to the needs of OP. The following activities were implemented: Promotion of active participation of older people: Intergenerational workshops were organized with older and young persons in six municipalities in Serbia to discuss intergenerational cooperation, healthy aging, the life course approach, elder abuse and violence towards OP. COVID-19 related winterization: 500 vulnerable older households were provided with family hygiene parcels to protect their health. Capacity building of Red Cross branches to implement healthy aging programs: To support preventative activities and enable healthy aging, capacities of local Red Cross branches were built to implement healthy aging programs. Subsequently, regular programs for OP were implemented on physical and psychological well-being. Increase in digital literacy of OP living in rural areas and in long-term care facilities: OP in rural areas were provided with mobile phones, and training sessions were conducted for their usage. In long-term care facilities, training sessions were conducted with the residents on how to use IT devices. Video tutorials created by UNFPA CO Serbia for using the most common communication platforms were used.
MoreThe service promotes comprehensive elderly care, aimed at maintaining autonomy of healthy older people, detecting and reversing frailty and high risk of falls and caring for people who already have different levels of functional impairment/degree of dependency. General practitioners, nurse practitioners and social workers working in the 262 primary care centres at the Madrid RS are the main stakeholders providing the service, which was co-created with an expert committee that represented them. Target population: people 70+; with severe/complete dependency living in Madrid. In 2021, number of users that could benefit from the good practice were 946,171 inhabitants; from those, 236,961inhabitants (21%) were covered by this service. The service stratifies the target population according to the degree of dependency based on the Barthel Index, and indicates different action plans with the most effective interventions proposed by clinical guidelines and ministerial plans. Frailty screening and risk of falls assessment are as well performed within this service using validated and standardized tools. Its implementation has required the development of personal care records plans in the electronic medical record of the Madrid Community (named AP Madrid), the training of health and social care professionals and the design of an evaluation model (annually performed). While target population has remained stable, the screened people increased in the second year of implementation. However, the screened people decreased during the last two years, because regular healthcare practices had to be reorganized due to COVID pandemic.
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