Recover the sense of community of the RSA, through the digitization and the connection of the structures, to report the role dell’elderly in the center of the active company: these are the main objectives of the project Ciao!, the initiative dedicated to Italian nursing homes conceived and promoted by Amplifon Onlus Foundation, the corporate foundation of the Amplifon Group born at the beginning of 2020 to promote the social inclusion of the most vulnerable people.
The project – of which it is Ambassador the actress Cristiana Capotondi – was presented today, in Milan, with a dedicated event at theAmplifon Auditorium. The initiative provides for theinstallation – in a network of residences for the elderly Non Profit located throughout the national territory, selected in collaboration with Uneba, National Union of Institutions and Social Assistance Initiatives – di interactive systems of video-connection of high quality e definition that respond directly to needs and at habits communities of elderly guests in the various structures, interrupted or suspended during the last months of the pandemic emergency.
Thanks to system of video-connection gives 23”, 75” e 85” purchased thanks to support of Samsung Electronics Italia, the residences will be able to restore moments of sharing – such as prayer groups, reading newspapers or meeting with volunteers and school groups – and facilitate the conduct of services useful, dai medical consultations to any commitments administrative O bureaucratic, recovering the spirit of Union and bringing guests back to be protagonists active of their everyday life, making them feel again involved in the life of theirs community.
At the same time, the video-connection systems – which will be based on technologies and services developed in partnership with Cisco e During – will also be used to convey contents originals e recreational. Among these, for example, a series of eight concerts of classic music – conceived and dedicated exclusively for the communities of RSA part of the project – promoted in collaboration with LaFil – Milan Philharmonic, as well as a recovery program physical awareness through two weekly Yoga gymnastics classes developed by MondoYoga.
The initiative Ciao! – which from today is already a reality in 50 structures for seniors throughout Italy, between Calabria, Campania, Emilia Romagna, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont, Marche, Puglia, Tuscany, Veneto and Sicily – will be progressively extended to other national RSAs, to reach 150 residences involved within 12 months.
A capillary diffusion, to create a connected network of facilities for the elderly, still among the places most affected by social impacts of the pandemic, for which the project wants to represent a concrete and “active” response.
L’emergency health – with its consequences of social isolation and distancing – has, in fact, contributed significantly tointuition of the project Ciao!, with a first phase of experimentation in 10 RSA dell’area Milanese, wanted precisely to overcome the distances and distancing imposed by the pandemic and bring the guests of the RSA closer to their loved ones.
In addition toefficiency of the technological aspect in recovering relationships with families or the main points of reference of everyday life, the pilot test – called Here I am! and made in collaboration with the municipality of Milan in the second half of 2020 – demonstrated how the elderly residents of the nursing homes become, once trained and involved in the use of new technologies, real passionate of technology, as they understand firsthand the strong positive impact and the great potential that innovation can have on relational spheres even in contexts – such as RSAs – traditionally considered to be little or scarcely digitized.
“We are particularly proud to be able to present, today, such an ambitious project as Ciao!”, points out Susan Carol Holland, President of the Amplifon Foundation. “Bringing the Italian RSA back to the center of intergenerational dialogue means recognizing in the guests of these communities a precious resource, a human heritage of sensitivity and a social reference to take care of “, adds Susan Carol Holland.
“With this project we wanted to respond to a community need in an extremely critical moment like the one we experienced during the first lockdown. Hello! creates a technological bridge to concretely digitize RSAs by promoting a link between their interior and the outside thanks to an enabling technology of the highest quality. Today the project grows and passes from the local dimension to the national one“- he comments Maria Cristina Ferradini, CEO of Fondazione Amplifon.
“Participate in the Ciao! Project” – declares Franco Massi, president of National Uneba – “Allows Uneba non-profit facilities for the elderly to make a double leap in quality, both in the video communications of the elderly with their loved ones – which become much more like face-to-face dialogues – and in making remote group meetings dedicated to our elderly possible, starting with the concerts held by LaFil-Filarmonica di Milano. From Uneba a special thanks to the Amplifon Foundation and to all the partners of the project for having chosen to take sides, with us, on the side of the most fragile elderly “he declares Franco Massi.
“An initiative like Ciao! represents a very important project not only for its development potential, but also because it can help promote a real cultural moral suasion for a segment – such as that of the so-called silver economy – extremely relevant in our society “, points out Gianmario Verona, Magnificent Rector dell’Luigi Bocconi Commercial University from Milan. “To actively support the third sector, in fact, it is essential to organize also with the collaboration of the private sector to provide easily replicable and scalable services, especially in a country that – like Italy – suffers from a structural problem of aging”, concludes Verona.
“The history of the Ciao! it is a clear example of what happens when technology is made available in an accessible and simple way to all: new opportunities are born and new goals are achieved that improve the quality of life. In satisfying the primary need to create a communication channel with families in the time of the health emergency, it was possible to experiment with the potential of digital, skills and collaborations were developed that are now developing in a new way, and put people at the center of a network of relationships and richer possibilities. We are very proud to support this initiative “, he comments Agostino Santoni, Cisco Sud Europa Vice President.