Foreign activities
Ever since its foundation, the ŽIVOT 90 Civic Association has engaged in foreign activities and international cooperation with organizations similar to those we pursue – i.e. organizations focusing on senior citizens and defence of their rights, providing social and health care to seniors and defending their interests.
Some of the most important current partners are listed below:
INCLUSage Project – promoting social inclusion of threatened groups of seniors in mainstream society with special emphasis on poor seniors facing the risk of social exclusion. The project has been implemented since 2008 in conjunction with our partners in Belgium, Poland, Germany, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Finland and the Irish Republic.
HelpAge International based in London with offices on all continents. We are working together to spread public awareness about the situation of elderly people in the developing countries and to promote directing our development aid to these people within the confines of the Czech Republic. www.helpage.org
In conjunction with London-based HelpAge International organization we have shared in preparing publications examining the situation of seniors in Africa.
Help the Aged of London assists elderly people especially in South-eastern Europe and organizes global events in their support. www.helptheaged.org.uk
ŽIVOT 90 is a member of several international organizations of global and European significance, including the following organizations:
-EURAG – the European Federation of Old People, incorporating 32 European seniors' organizations, www.eurageurope.org.
-AGE Platform – the European platform of elderly people, based in Brussels, www.age-platform.org. Our chairman and director Jan Lorman is a member of its executive administrative board.
-International Federation on Ageing – IFA, www.ifa-fiv.org. Mgr. Jan Lorman, chairman and director of out association, represents the Czech Republic in the organization.
-INPEA – International Network for the Prevention of Elderly Abuse, www.inpea.net. ŽIVOT 90 has been a member since 2004.
Current European projects implemented in conjunction with foreign partners
-AMISL Project – education and training of community care personnel. Project implemented since 2007 in cooperation with partners from Italy, Greece and Portugal.
-DECENT WORK FOR ALL –project to encourage public and government structures to ensure decent work opportunities for all subjects, including seniors, ready and willing to primarily direct their focus on developing countries. We have engaged in the project since 2008 together with partners in the United Kingdom, Germany, Uganda, Bangladesh and Peru. In June 2008 we hosted in Prague a roundtable on "Decent Work for All" as part and side program of the Czech Presidential "Civil Society Organizations Development Effectiveness Conference".
Photo gallery on the Decent Work for All project, co-sponsored by Britain's HelpAge International and ŽIVOT 90 Civic Association can be downloaded HERE. The photographs are freely downloadable solely for non-profit purposes. Please advice ŽIVOT 90 any time you use the photographs on the purpose of their utilization and state the name of executive officer and your E-mail connection.
-Project ENABLE / use of modern assistance technologies to facilitate seniors' lives
Basic information about ENABLE project
Project acronym: ENABLE
Full official description of project: A wearable system supporting services to "enable" elderly people to live well, independently and at ease
Funded by EU Programme:
Sixth Framework Programme of the EU, Information Society Technologies
Project partners:
10 partners from six European countries:
• CARDIONETICS LTD.
• University of Reading
• Code Factory, S.L
• e-ISOTIS
• Vzw Cassiers wzc
• Vienna University of Technology
• Artec
• Kompetenznetzwerk
• Informationstechnologie zur Förderung der Integration von Menschen mit Behinderungen
• ŽIVOT 90, Civic Association – ŽIVOT 90 is one of the partners sharing in the testing of prototypes and other project activities
Starting date: 1 January 2007
End of project: 30 June 2010
Project duration: 42 months
Total budget: EUR 3,554,710
EC contribution: EUR 2,800,000
Further information about project available at www (in English):
www.enable-project.eu
Unlike other contemporary emergency-care systems, ENABLE employs a cellular phone and a smart bracelet mutually communicating via Bluetooth. The emergency system can be used anywhere with mobile telephone signal coverage. In addition the system signals the loss of signal between the phone and the bracelet, as both parts work in conjunction and are worn together.
We know that falls and ensuing bone fractures present high risk to the senior population. In Britain, for example, fall-induced problems occur in 30% of seniors over 65 and up to 50% of seniors over 80 years of age. Falls and their effects are very stressful for elderly people, their families, formal and informal attendants and the healthcare system as a whole. Prevention of falls forms a significant part of Czech healthcare policy focused on senior citizens.
The ENABLE system envisages the use of sensors to signal falls or other high-risk situations and to automatically connect to an attendant or crisis centre; an independent mobile phone call can be made by any person. The system will feature voice-controlled phone option, dispensing with the need to fumble for the right button, which is often quite small.
In addition to a system of alarms and sensors, ENABLE can render other services as well. In case the cell phone is equipped with a Bluetooth, the supervising person may track the movement of a patient with dementia; if the phone has a built-in camera, it is possible to send images to the help centre or attendant and to help the confused senior (or person with impaired vision) answer to "Where am I?", "What is this?" or "What to do next?". Physically handicapped people can have their ENABLE gear hooked up to the "smart house" system that enables remote opening of doors, setting up heating, switching on/off household appliances etc.
