Cáritas Coimbra participates in the last plenary meeting of the DIANA project
The partners of the European project DIANA – Digital Intelligent Assistant for Nursing Applications met in Vienna (Austria) for what would be the last plenary meeting of the consortium. The event took place between January 11 and 13 and was attended by all the partner entities, namely: Cáritas Coimbra (Portugal), Universidade Católica Portuguesa (Portugal), EET Europarts (Switzerland), Geriatrische Klinik St.Gallen (Switzerland), Bluepoint Consulting (Romania), Technische Universität Wien (Austria), and Cogvis (Austria). Representing Cáritas Coimbra were Bruna Franceschini, Patrícia Condesso and Maria Inês Santos, from the Innovation Department.
The DIANA project aims to optimize the work procedures of caregivers of older people, especially those with cognitive decline, using smart 3D sensors. Through sensors, this solution acts directly in the detection and prevention of falls and supports other daily tasks.
This last meeting served, essentially, to present the preliminary results of the pilots implemented in Cáritas Coimbra and in Geriatrische Klinik St.Gallen.
Both pilots tested the project’s technological part, divided into three main components: the fall detection sensors, the heatmaps, and the toilet virtual assistant.
Regarding sensors and heatmaps, the results obtained during the second testing period, which started in October 2022, were presented. Particular cases and solutions to optimize and improve the system were also analysed.
Concerning the toilet virtual assistant, which was tested in November, the analyses of the different realities (Coimbra – Portugal and St. Gallen – Switzerland) were presented.
Throughout the pilots’ implementation, several workshop sessions were held with the formal caregivers of the Centres involved, so that they could follow the project and become familiar with the technological solution.
Finally, possibilities for future partnerships in continuing the topics of active and healthy ageing and increasing the life quality of caregivers of older people were discussed.
The DIANA project is co-funded by the European AAL Programme (Active Assisted Living – ICT for Ageing, 2017) and, in the Portuguese case, by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.
