Life shows how a cluster of excellence in tourism and animal breeding can create new economic prospects, financially supported by a public-private partnership. In Saxony, Germany, the Supermarkets of Generations project (DART) facilitates the independent living of the elderly through a fully accessible supermarket. Especially in ageing towns or urban areas with a high share of older people, retail trade companies should meet the needs of the ageing population. The German Retail Trade Association (Handelsverband Deutschland, HDE) implemented a certificate for ‘generation-friendly shopping’ in 2010 on the basis of this idea. In our view the good practice Citizen Buses and Future Trends from Brandenburg, Germany (DART) is worth a closer look (also see 3.1.3). The solution for local public transport in an area with a sparse population is of high interest: the citizen buses are driven by volunteers, which makes the project stand out, and we see similar initiatives throughout Europe in the last couple of years. The Design-led Innovations for Senior Care and Active Ageing from the DAA project combines design with social innovation. The method for innovation creation in this project, is to combine the expertise of senior care specialists in cities with the expertise of service designers. Service design puts people at the centre of its approach. Taking this approach ensures that solutions are suited for everyday life and meets the needs and demands of the users. Not only the customers or end-users, but also, for example, staff who provide the services. In our opinion this is a novel approach and by doing so the project contributes to creating innovative products and services with new opportunities for EU businesses. The partners learn from established innovative services and solutions, improve the innovation capacity of their city administrations and improve public sector policies. (Photo: SILHOUETTE, a CREATOR subproject)
The SILHOUETTE subproject (CREATOR) looks for methods that facilitate and enhance the ability of elderly people to continue to live in their own homes as long as possible. The region of Lorraine (France), one of the partners in SILHOUETTE, has a well-established practice called Care Phone. The telecare for home safety connects the user to a network of close and trusted people as well as to emergency services. The contact between the client and the centre’s staff is led by a specialised operator from a hotline centre. The client can call the hotline centre at any time, by simply pressing a trigger button (on a necklace or a wristwatch, as desired by the client). The client is then connected to an operator who listens and identifies his or her needs, in order to provide the most appropriate response. Depending on the need, someone from the personal network (friends or family) and/or the patient's doctor is informed. If necessary, or in case of a lack of available people in the network, emergency services, for instance an ambulance, can be directly alerted. Neighbourhood Care (Buurtzorg) (PEOPLE, DIVERSIA subproject) is the development of an innovative, small-scale concept for home nursing and care from Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands. It reintroduces the district nurse, trying to give an answer to the focus on production levels, protocols and administration; which have been experienced as a burden, leaving little time for the caring tasks. It started out on a small scale, but the organisation Buurtzorg Nederland has now expanded to 250 independent teams throughout the entire country. Buurtzorg Nederland is an organisation in which district nurses and district health care workers themselves have the authority. ‘Every team is responsible for its own clientele and is in close contact with family doctors and families. The teams are also responsible for their own financial results. The supporting office in Almelo is just that: supporting.’30 The Buurtzorg teams work from simple locations and the nurses, not the managers, are the pillars of the organisation.
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