News

November 2024 - Bologna

Social isolation of older people is one of the most serious and pressing issues in modern societies, particularly in areas where the dynamics of daily life are often not designed to meet the needs of the older population. With increasing longevity and the consequent ageing of the population, this phenomenon risks having a significant impact on the physical and mental health of the older people, contributing to conditions such as depression, loneliness and cognitive decline.
In the European context, where life expectancy continues to increase and demographic transition becomes more and more evident, it is necessary to address the issue of isolation with concrete and inclusive solutions. It is in this scenario that the Age-Friendly Toolkit project emerges as an innovative and concrete response to the challenges posed by an ageing population.

What are Age-Friendly Cities ?
Age-Friendly Cities are urban and community environments designed to ensure quality of life for older people. These cities promote active and healthy ageing by fostering social inclusion, access to services, civic participation and psychological and physical support. However, in order to make cities truly ‘age-friendly’, a change of mindset in public policy, urban planning and services is essential so that they are designed to meet the needs of the ageing population.

Age-Friendly Toolkit: A Step Towards Inclusive Ageing
The Age-Friendly Toolkit project funded by the Erasmus+ programme aims to provide practical and educational tools for professionals, local authorities and communities to develop more inclusive and welcoming cities for the ageing population. One of the main resources of this project is the Age-Friendly City web-app, which offers an online training programme to create age-friendly environments.

This digital platform is designed to be accessible to health professionals and practitioners, but also to local authorities, cooperatives, associations and older people themselves. The programme is divided into five thematic modules, each focusing on a crucial aspect of older people life:

1. Smart Environments
2. Social Participation
3. Social Inclusion and Co-operation
4. Employment and civic engagement
5. Support and communication with the community

How Age-Friendly Toolkit can counteract isolation ?
The Age-Friendly City web-app, with its educational and practical content, aims to directly address the problem of isolation. For example, the module dedicated to social participation provides tools and strategies to create opportunities for socialising, involving older people in cultural, artistic and recreational activities, but also in voluntary projects that put them at the centre of community life.
Furthermore, the project promotes the construction of support networks involving both the family and the local community, ensuring that no elderly person is left behind. Age-friendly cities that apply the principles contained in the Toolkit tend to offer more accessible public spaces, safer and more easily accessible transport, and an environment that facilitates socialisation, reducing the risk of isolation.

Training for Professionals and Seniors
One of the distinctive features of the project is training. The Age-Friendly City web-app is not only for professionals dealing with social and urban policies, but also for the people of all ages, who can learn how to exploit the resources offered by the community and improve the community quality of life. The courses are not limited to theory, but offer practical tips, case studies and good practices that can be adopted in any city.

The interactive modules and training videos enable autonomous learning, but are also designed to foster active interaction between participants, creating supportive virtual communities that can continue even after the courses have ended. In this way, the risk of isolation is not only addressed on a theoretical level, but becomes part of a concrete and applicable solution, which promotes the psycho-physical well-being of the elderly and encourages their social integration.

Conclusion
Isolation of the older people is an urgent issue that needs to be addressed with innovative and inclusive solutions. The Age-Friendly Toolkit project and the Age-Friendly City web-app offer vital tools to counter this issue by training professionals, institutions and older people themselves on how to build more welcoming and inclusive urban environments. Through training, awareness-raising and the adoption of inclusive design practices, the risk of social isolation can be significantly reduced, promoting active and healthy ageing in all cities.
In an increasingly ageing future, we must work together to ensure that every elderly person can live in a community that not only supports them, but also makes them feel part of it.

For more information on the Age-Friendly City web-app and the Age-Friendly City Toolkit project, visit the official website: www.afctoolkit.eu.
Age-Friendly City Toolkit project is co-founded by Erasmus+ Programme with the G.A. n. 2022-1-ES01-KA220-VET-000085664. This document related to the Project made by the beneficiaries jointly or individually in any form and using any means, reflects only the author’s view and the National Agency and the European Commission are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.