The CYBER_SÉNIOR project aims to promote the inclusion and Digital Literacy of the senior community, contributing to a more inclusive society, to increase their self-esteem and to contribute to the active ageing of the elderly.
The senior population in the face of an increasingly technological society, feels naturally excluded. This is due to the difficulty to handle and use the technology, the difficulty in acess to this technology, the feeling of incapacity in learning new things, etc.
The absence of digital skills of the senior population is often synonymous of social isolation, segregation in access to information and services, loss of autonomy and increased sense of inability to adapt to the society.
We then realized the urgent need to help the elderly and enable them with the knowledge of new technologies; and by doing so contributing to help them in stimulating their cognitive skills, strengthen their memory and decreasing social isolation.
We started by adapt ing our own library at the Residential Senior Home Otília Lourenço, with the necessary computer media. Thanks to the generosity of various partners, we now have computer equipment, furniture and other equipment, enough for starting the project!
We started the first training for seniors in the past month and it has been a huge success! In such a way that we already have a waiting list to open new classes.
Now we want to go further!
We intend to give more seniors the opportunity to learn computers, share their experiences in a relaxed and friendly environment, thus contributing to an active and healthy aging.
With this campaign we can have more classes, in which we will provide simplified knowledge about writing programs, the internet, how to use the access to the network to read news, exchanging emails, access social networks, communicate with their family, etc.
We also have partnership for this project with local schools, that will engage their students in some sessions, providing inter-generational moments with seniors and, therefore, bridging the gap between generations!
About the author
Fundação Dr. José Lourenço Júnior, through the Residential Senior Home Otília Lourenço, works daily on promoting equal opportunities and SOCIAL inclusion for OLDER PEOPLE, defending the need of these people to have access to all the dynamics of civil society, to promote a full and informed citizenship.We are a IPSS since 1994 ,focusing its activity on the support for the elderly, and also in the promotion of various cultural and educational initiatives towards the community.
We have been supporting young people with training in music and promoting physical exercise and activities.
In the Abiul Music School, students are assisted by professors of musical education, classical guitar, electronic organ, flutes and keyboards and accordion. The institution still supports since 2005, Karate school, for students from 5 to 18 years, where the youth can take advantage of the real benefits that this activity brings to them; also supports the Creative Dance School of Abiul, for students of 6 to 15 years, where through the instinctive movement, children are offered the possibility to learn, train and develop skills such as musicality, motor coordination, the relationship with the space and the relationship with peers.
The CYBER_SÉNIOR project relies on the coordination of Isabel Vaz Serra with a background in architecture and planning (1990) and with extensive experience in coordinating multidisciplinary teams, in the implementation of projects, and in the promotion of social and cultural initiatives. There will also be certified local teachers that will assist the seniores.
Budget and due dates
The requested value in this campaign, for a total of 1,945€, includes the amount necessary for the implementation of new classes and the value of 5% Commission for the PPL plataform, plus VAT (23%), only if it is possible to raise the full amount requested. The value is also required to bear the costs of the teachers, pedagogical coordination, preparation and printing of manuals and issue of licences, for a total of 22 trainees over a period of 3 months.
It is expected the start of new classes during the month of May.