The "Parelles Digitals UVic-UCC" project celebrates its third edition

As part of e-week, the TIC Salut Chair (CESS), in collaboration with UHub, the Servei a la Comunitat Universitària, and the Fundació TIC Salut Social, has organized for the third year running its “Parelles Digitals UVic-UCC” project [UVic-UCC Digital Partners]. The project teams up secondary school students with people aged over 65 who have a smartphone or tablet, but who have a limited knowledge of how to use it and who would like to learn more. In three two-hour sessions, the school children help their partner acquire new digital skills in the use of their smartphone or tablet. The learning takes place  on a one-to-one basis, thus meeting the needs and aptitudes of the elderly participants.

Between the 1-9 April, 22 pairs of youngsters and senior citizens will participate in the project, which will take place at the UVic-UCC’s Campus Miramarges. The students are from the Sacrat Cor school in Vic and the senior citizens were recruited from the Aula d’Extensió Universitària Gent Gran d’Osona and the Casal Mossèn Guiteras. During the two sessions which have already taken place, the senior participants showed an interest in the use of WhatsApp, conducting searches with Google and Google Maps, accessing social media such as YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, managing photos and contacts on their smartphone, using tools such as the flashlight, the calculator, the notebook app, and installing and uninstalling apps, among others. The youngster expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the project.

The UVic-UCC Digital Partners project aims to help bridge the digital divide in Catalonia and faces a double challenge: first, providing the elderly with improved knowledge as to the use of mobile devices in order to communicate with others, thus improving their quality of life and preventing loneliness and social exclusion. Simultaneously, it aims to raise awareness among young people as to the positive effects of engaging in voluntary work in the community, providing them with an opportunity to undertake intergenerational community service. Vic town council and Isern Electrodomésticos are also taking part in the project.