Urban Isolation In Seniors

            Barcelona, a popular urban area located in northeast Spain, has over a fifth of its population made up of adults over the age of 65. CMC  for seniors has proven to be a very difficult task. With new technology being made monthly, seniors often find themselves struggling to keep up. The struggle to understand facebook, twitter, iPhones and iPads is a struggle that older people must encounter on a daily basis. The target audience for this new gadgets and apps is not at all adults over the age of 65. That, however, does not stop one's grandmother from downloading Candy Crush and tweeting about it. For most seniors, the understanding of all the technology is too much and they find themselves caught up in the generational gap. Seniors living in urban areas, like Barcelona, have it especially hard to fit in the technological world. In rural areas, older people tend to have people living close with them and, therefore, are looked after and helped. However, seniors residing in cities tend to live alone or only with their significant other. This social isolation is detrimental to any given senior that attempts to follow the technological world.  In order to combat this issue, a new app named VinclesBCN has been created to help ease the life of older people in Barcelona by fighting against urban isolation.

            The app works by creating a trusted network of people who can utilize the app to help a given older individual. That is, for every senior there is a network of people - whether it be friends, family members, neighbors, etc - that control the app. The people in the network can create reminders, share a calendar, set up bank transfers, make calls, share content and more. In short, the app makes it possible for trusted individuals to aid the older person in daily activities without physically being there. It is simple enough for the over 65 year old to understand and easy enough for their network to utilize. The app is in its early trial phase currently, but it is making great strides toward expansion. The trial phase consists of 20 elderly people chosen from the city of Barcelona who can invite up to 10 people into their network.  Despite its current small size, the app is estimated to expand to integrate up to 20,000 over 65 year olds and their networks. The app has seen some spotlight and has found itself to be eagerly praised. In 2014, the app won the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge and won €5m in funding. Therefore, the apps future seems promising and will likely continue to help the older population in Barcelona and, hopefully, spread to other major European cities.