AUTOMA takes part in the UNEBA Nationwide Conference – Innovation at the service of fragility
On 8th October, AUTOMA took part in the Uneba Nationwide Conference (Italian National Union of Social Welfare Institutions and Initiatives) organised by Uneba nazionale, in collaboration with Uneba Marche and Uneba Puglia. The conference was held on 6, 7 and 8 October at the Congress Centre of the Baia Flaminia Hotel in Pesaro, Italy.
The objective of the event, aimed at representatives and directors of management bodies, and members of their teams (doctors, nurses, social workers, educators, psychologists, …), was to ‘frame the term innovation in a critical sense, starting from an ethical vision of development and progress. Innovation applied to the world of frailty is one of the necessary – but not sufficient – resources for enhancing human beings.” [1]
Conference programme
The conference opened on Thursday 6 October with the first session ‘Innovation: a tool to increase care’. On Friday 7, on the other hand, the morning focus was on ‘The world of innovation applied to fragile subjects’, while the afternoon session was devoted to ‘Proposals from CITEL of the University of Bari Aldo Moro’.
Lastly, on Saturday 8, space was given to the presentation of innovative projects and products applied to services for the elderly, for the disabled, for cognitive fragility, in the home, in residential facilities, and on the territory. It was precisely in this session that AUTOMA was invited to take part, together with Andrea Blandi, Vice-President of UNEBA, to present its XEFIRO technologies, born for Building Automation and made available in the XEFIRO CARE context to improve the quality of life of the elderly and disabled at home and in Assisted Living Facilities.
XEFIRO CARE by AUTOMA: technologies for an assisted environment
XEFIRO CARE was created as an environmental and behavioural monitoring system for people who are elderly or suffer from neurodegenerative diseases. The technology serves patients, their families and caregivers; it offers support by reducing the stress that often affects family members in these situations, and enables patients to continue living as independently as possible in their own homes.
The technologies offered by AUTOMA in this context guarantee:
- Control and notification of potentially risky situations, by means of devices for opening/closing windows and doors, monitoring the patient’s stay in bed, detecting anomalies in the TV, refrigerator, lighting, etc., and detecting the onset of flooding/fire;
- Patient comfort, through devices for audio/video communication, automatic activation of courtesy lights at night, devices for regulating and controlling temperature and humidity in rooms, automated lighting, and customised multimedia system;
- Patient safety, through devices for monitoring the patient’s power status and his or her ability to carry out normal daily activities, video surveillance, detection of falls and other accidents, intrusion detection systems, technical alarms (flood and fire), and reminder alarms for taking medication as part of the therapy.
A solution designed to support the most fragile individuals
At the UNEBA nationwide conference, AUTOMA solutions were presented by Sales Director Stefano Menghini, who emphasised some basic concepts:
- Verticalisation: the basic technologies of Building Automation are applied to the Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) context;ù
- Integration: in terms of communication between existing technologies and interaction between possible services for the frail person;
- Specialisation: attention to the specificities of this delicate application context.
The meeting, which represented an excellent opportunity for sharing and comparison, highlighted how innovation applied to the world of frailty is a necessary resource for the recognition of fundamental rights for the most frail and non-self-sufficient individuals. Initiatives of this kind, which aim to bring together researchers, clinicians, engineers and entrepreneurs interested in innovation in the rehabilitation field, are undoubtedly positive and necessary. Different skills and approaches are needed to develop increasingly effective solutions. We need experimentation with technologies and devices to support chronic conditions, especially those related to ageing.
We would like to thank UNEBA for the invitation and all participants for offering us this excellent opportunity to meet and discuss.
