Characterization, Creativity, Leadership, and Search for Solutions to Improve the Lifestyles of Earlier Elderly People in Urban Areas

Social innovation in aging needs to bring new ideas and services to meet new social and welfare needs identified in recent years. In our environment, people ≥60 years old accounted for 20% -24% of the population in 2015, and it is expected to increase to ≥30% by 2050. For the first time in history, most people can aspire to live well beyond the age of 60. On the other hand, the Covid-19 pandemic has severely affected people ≥60 years of age and may make the welfare and health problems of this population more evident, such as unhealthy lifestyles, the risk of malnutrition, and sarcopenia (defined as loss of muscle mass, strength, and function), which leads to significant dependency and quality of life problems. In addition, older people living in urban areas have been severely affected by confinement, and new needs are being generated. To better understand the needs, an innovative element of this project is to involve the elderly-young people (60-74 years) from urban areas in the generation of solutions, which will make these solutions especially adapted to their needs. Therefore increase the adherence to the solutions created, and also the long-term sustainability of the solutions.

The objectives of this project are: To characterize the elderly (60 to 74 years) who live independently in urban areas of the province of Tarragona, to actively involve them, through a process of participatory research to generate solutions.

To achieve this goal, it is proposed to make a diagnosis of their health status (lifestyles, risk of malnutrition, and sarcopenia), and conduct focus groups including young seniors from urban areas, and stakeholders, to determine their needs, interests, and barriers for pursuing healthy lifestyles. Based on the information obtained in the diagnosis and focus groups, there will be processes for co-creating solutions based on proposed activities or changes in their immediate environment. During the co-creation process, the elderly and the 4-helix stakeholders (government, industry, university, and civil society) will be involved.