WellCo at the XVI Congress of the Older People Association

On November 10 and 11, the XVI Congress of Associations of the Elderly, sponsored by the Fundación Telefónica, took place electronically. On this occasion, the theme of the congress has focused on how public-private collaboration can help alleviate the negative effect that unwanted loneliness has on older people.
Among the more than 20 participating entities, both from the public and private spheres, is Hi-Iberia which, through Inmaculada Luengo, coordinator of the WellCo project, has wanted to share its experiences and concrete actions to motivate older people to use ICT and reduce effects such as self-exclusion in technologies that older people sometimes impose themselves.
In relation to WellCo, tested in 3 European countries (Italy, Spain and Denmark), Inmaculada has highlighted the great difference in relation to the digital skills of older people between the countries of the north and the south of Europe, emphasizing the need to invest in Actions and infrastructures that try to bring technology closer to this age segment in an inclusive way, especially in rural areas where technological discrimination against this age segment is even greater, as can be seen from the research carried out by the WellCo project. in different towns of Castilla y León, with the help of the Social Services Management and the regional project A Gusto en Mi Casa.
In conjunction with Inmaculada, other speakers from the academic field such as Vicente Traver, director of the Ítaca Sabien Institute of the UPV, Óscar Belmonte associate professor at the Jaume I University of Castellón and from the business field such as Lucía González, manager of the PHARAON project, have also wanted to capture their experiences, observations and concerns in relation to ICT, the elderly and loneliness.
It is for this reason, and through the experiences of these representatives from a different field, that the discussion table has had a very clear language and has helped to understand how ICTs, public-private collaboration and good regulation of data protection and Dependence aid and the elderly are fundamental tools when it comes to overcoming the effects that unwanted loneliness has on these population segments.