Health and welfare technology for an extended independent life – a user perspective

The role of health and welfare technology in promoting autonomy and inclusion – this is the topic of this year’s Nordic Day, which will be held in Malmö on 13 June in conjunction with the European Social Network (ESN) organising its annual conference on social services. The ESN conference addresses questions about how digital services can contribute to improving accessibility to social services, and how coordination between services can be improved from a user perspective.

The Nordic Welfare Centre, which coordinates the Nordic Health and Welfare Technology Research Network (HWT), is hosting this year’s Nordic Day. HWT will be presenting interdisciplinary Nordic research from all Nordic countries with a focus on a user perspective.

The ESN conference will highlight research and practice on innovation in social services through health and welfare technology; IT development for social integration, accessibility or autonomy; improvements in organisation and personnel, and data management for decision-making.

“We need to accelerate the digital and technological transformation of welfare services, but at the same time also demonstrate the effects of digital services from a user perspective. Our 75 researchers in the Nordic research network are focusing on precisely this, and Nordic Day will feature presentations of five examples from all countries in the Nordic region,” says Bengt Andersson, project manager at the Nordic Welfare Centre.

Program

15.00 Welcome Eva Franzén, Director and Kai Koivumäki, Deputy Director & Operations manager, Nordic Welfare Centre

15:10 The Nordic Health and Welfare Technology Research Network

• Professor Helinä Melkas, LUT Finland, Professor Christine Gustafsson, Sophiahemmet University Sweden and Professor Elin Thygesen, UIT Norway
• Examples of HWT research with a user perspective – Nordic Research presentations:

15.40 Presentation Danish researcher (TBA)

16.00 Shaping future digital services for the diverse older adult population through participatory approaches, Emilia Wiklund, Research Assistant Health Sciences, Åbo Academy University, Finland

16.20 Break with coffee and small talk

16.40 Policies and priorities in the field of health and welfare technology in the Icelandic welfare service, Halldór S. Guðmundsson, Associate professor, Faculty of Social Work University of Iceland

17.00 Presentation Norwegian researcher Norway (TBA)

17.20 The Fik@ room: a co-designed web platform for social interaction among older people, Annelie Gusdal, Senior lecturer, PhD Caring Science, Mälardalen University, Sweden

17.40 Panel discussion – five researchers, Stig-H Nilsson, user representative Sweden – focus on social context and prolonged independent life

18:00 Fruits, coffee, mingle