Author(s): Vilaça, Teresa ; Carvalho, Graça S. ; Fersch, Barbara ; Thuesen, Annette Aagaard ; Noe, Egon Bjørnshave ; Snijder, Allette ; Annema, Janneke ; Carrouel, Florence ; Olivo, Matteo ; Darlington, Emily ; Langer, Beate
Date: 2024
Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/94331
Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
Subject(s): eHealth facilitators; Social care providers; Vulnerable people; Old citizens
The REACT project aims to address directly the first horizontal priority, “Addressing digital transformation through the development of readiness, resilience and capacity”, with the development of the Rural eHealth facilitators concept. For this, the project provides the tools to help vulnerable and older citizens in rural areas develop digital capacities to become included in eHealth offerings. Indeed, the underlying concept is centred on educating volunteers to inspire and support vulnerable people to develop necessary digital skills and motivate them to do so. Thus, the project also responds directly to the second priority, “Co-creating and promoting learning opportunities for all citizens”, and the third priority, “Common values, civic engagement and participation”, by developing tools that aim at promoting digital skills and inclusion among a group of vulnerable citizens at risk of digital exclusion. In short, the REACT project contributes to the objectives of the European Pillar of Social Rights, specifically in terms of inclusion and social protection (Commission of the European Communities, 2004). The REACT concept aims to enable access to digital health and social care services to vulnerable and older adults and, thus, the objective of guaranteeing access to high-quality care for everybody. To understand in detail what the groups' needs are, a three-step need analysis was led by the University of Minho team to attain the following objectives: 1. To characterise the regional and local health and social care providers’ needs to recruit and work with volunteers, to acknowledge volunteer work and to train and collaborate with rural eHealth facilitators; 2. To identify the perceptions of the regional and local health and social care providers regarding the expressed needs, challenges and desires of vulnerable and older citizens in rural areas; 3. To characterise the rural eHealth facilitators’ needs to be engaged as volunteers to assist regional and local health and social care providers to reach better digitally excluded vulnerable and old citizens living in rural areas, to provide and apply tools to help rural vulnerable and older citizens develop their digital skills, and to participate in a training to qualify them to work as rural eHealth facilitators. In summary, the REACT project takes a needs-driven approach. This bottom-up process enables volunteers to inspire and motivate vulnerable people to develop their digital skills, promoting civic engagement.
