Trends in Healthcare and social policy work more and more in favour of maintaining elderly people in their home and preventing degeneration or disabilities that may occur in older age. Such trend can be observed in the three latest Health National Plans, where the focus on elderly shifted gradually from "Safeguarding health in the elderly" (1994-96 Plan) to supporting the elderly and their families, also by means of home care (1998-2000 Plan), and to favouring healthy ageing by initiating prevention of degeneration in younger ages (2001-2003 Plan). It is apparent that ICT may have a role within this approach; however, no specific policy statement was found in any document in relation to ICT supporting the older population. At local level, initiatives specifically target at elderly people are beginning to appear in the civic network. A good example is the city of Bologna (the first municipality in Italy offering free Internet access to all its citizens), whose civic network includes a specific section - named SeniorOnLine - devoted to elderly citizens.
Many organisations of elderly people are currently active in Italy. They can be looked at as networks - or federations - of local groups, each of them organising cultural activities and operating services that foster active ageing, promote the role of older people in society, and sometimes also exploit the contribution of elderly people for the benefit of the community. Due to their size, geographical coverage and central co-ordination facilities they are likely to act as effective lobby groups in promoting favourable policies at both national or local level. Trade Unions of retired persons - within each of the three major Unions CISL, CGIL and UIL - have also a key lobby function and an important role in promoting empowerment of the elderly population, not only in relation to pension or economic aspects, but also to healthcare, social support and overall quality of life issues.ICT, however, does not seem to appear as an issue in any of the above lobby groups. Most of them run a website, sometimes quite rich or with subsites devoted to local branches.
As far as initiatives aimed at improving IST interest exist, they are taking place at local level in some cities, on the initiative of cultural organisations. To date, however, it does not seem that ICT has been given specific consideration in relation to elderly people and people with disabilities.
This reflects the concept that older and disabled people are not considered as a special group in relation to ICT, but just people who can benefit from ICT - provided it is accessible - as any other citizen. This approach seems to make a lot of sense from the point of view of access to such technologies.
| listing | back | next |