Rebuilding relationships
When there is a person living nearby that you can count on and that will help in a difficult situation, you feel safe. And what if good neighbour relationships became part of the commune social care system? What is needed is only a bit of knowledge, technology, support and ingenuity.
Activists from the Science for Environment Foundation from Koszalin have developed a comprehensive and innovative programme of care services, in which new technologies are of great use not only in providing help, but also in rebuilding relationships. This programme is called Good Support.
The programme covers four activity areas. The first one, known as “Good Care”, is a tool for local self-government units. It is an electronic model for managing carers’ work, and it resembles an electronic calendar. With the help of this tool, social welfare workers are able to classify and verify the tasks to be performed. The next crucial tool for this programme is a mobile phone application called “A Good Carer”, whichenables you to account forthe tasks performed in automatic job sheets. An important element of the programme is also a system for informing members of the closest family about the condition of the person being cared for,called “A Good Family”. The fourth component is called “A Good Neighbour”, which covers neighbourly care services, meaning that people living nearby get involved in helping.
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- ‘Good caregiver’ smartphone app
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- Piotr Jaśkiewicz, the President of the Science for Environment Foundation
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- Tamara Baj, a beneficiary of the Good Support Programme
Instead of a phone The system also covers emergency wristbands. They are designed for people having problems with using mobile phones. When you press the big button, as many as six people are called for help. Thanks to the GPS technology, the people called can track the person in need.
‘It is a breakthrough in the field of care services. A family which has emigrated and left behind an elderly person can ask a neighbour for help. Our application will enable them to define the scope of work and verify whether it has been done. This is much cheaper, and also available in all rural and urban areas. And with no need to employ specialist companies,’ said Piotr Jaśkiewicz, the President of the Foundation.
Project: Good Support – a system of local social services Project cost: approx. PLN 10 million, including approx. PLN 8.6 million from the European Social Fund, Zachodniopomorskie Regional Programme