ALTAS
Across Europe, quadruple helix partnerships are striving to scale up smart solutions to address the demographic challenge of an ageing population. But, successful scaling of innovative solutions especially for the elderly with long-term conditions remain patchy. The difficulty in securing health and social care professionals’ engagement to utilize, help people to use and accept the adoption of assistive living technologies (ALT) is a key obstacle to supporting people to live independently for longer. Partly, this is due to the shortfall of training opportunities for practitioners in assistive living technologies along with the lack of a recognised qualification for competence in their suitability and use. As a result, awareness of what assistive living technologies are available, what they can do, when they are suitable, who could benefit from them and in what way remains low amongst front line health and care workers and their managers. Moreover, at European level, it has been recognized that there is no standard nor consensus as to what should be taught.
The ALTAS project intends to plug this important gap. It will develop, test and evaluate ALTAS standards, curriculum and VET course that can provide health and social care professionals with the knowledge, skills and confidence to utilise, deploy and recommend appropriate ALT devices, technologies and related services. It will also create an accreditation scheme that will be a key step on the road to a national and European- recognised accredited qualification.