RegionAAL has already been presented several times, for example, at the annual meeting of the Styrian Patient Safety Initiative at the Styrian Health Foundation which took place on 13th April 2016 with ca. 100 participants in Graz, or at the human technology cluster of the industry forum “Market opportunities in medical technologies and health in Switzerland“.

But the longest journey so far had been that of Gerd Hartinger from the Geriatric Health Centers of the city of Graz. His mission to Shanghai, China to present our project took place between 3rd and 8th April 2016 with a group of about 20 persons from organisations such as the KFU, FH Joanneum, provincial government of Drexler, various media etc.

Can Styria define itself as an international model region for projects and activities in the area of “Healthy Aging”?

This and other similar questions were presented to participants of the fourth Health Executive Lounge 2015 des Human Technology Cluster Styria. RegionAAL was presented by Maria Fellner (JOANNEUM RESEARCH) as an introduction to the topic. In the subsequent panel discussion, Gerd Hartinger explained the significance of the test region for the Geriatric Health Centers in the city of Graz (GGZ) and also provided numerous examples of assistive technologies which are currently being tested or used in GGZ.

Key results of the discussion were that “Active Aging” – also know as an actively supported life for all people – is becoming increasingly important for our society and is therefore even more desirable that the numerous existing technologies finally enter the market and, subsequently, are applied in real life settings.

RegionAAL was presented, amongst other previously launched AAL Austrian test regions, during the 7th e-Health Day in Salzburg, organised by Salzburg Research. This allowed for the description and discussion of various interim stages of the project (survey of requirements, technical implementation, rollout for evaluation, available reports of evaluation) where the Austrian test regions currently stand. This allowed an interesting insight into the event for participants and also generated further questions, for instance: What happens after the pilot projects? When will technologies be available for an individual or individuals, and how much will these solutions cost?

The project RegionAAL was presented to participants of the poster session at the Forum Age/ing 2015 in Graz (22-24 October 2015), followed by a discussion of the work. This allowed us to encounter additional interesting aspects and suggestions for the project.
RegionAAL poster for Forum Age/ing 2015 (966 kB) (in German)

AAL technologies and the conceptual framework of RegionAAL were presented during the networking path 2015 (Vernetzungsstraße 2015) in Deutschlandsberg (16 October 2015) as part of the session on “Technical assistance in the care sector”.

The conceptual framework of project RegionAAL was presented to the public for the first time during the AAL Forum 2015 in Ghent (22-25 September 2015). Initial interest in the project has already been expressed by providers of AAL solutions because they are keen to evaluate the applicability and acceptance of their products and services.