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Impronte

Impronte

Status: Completed

Autonomous Province of Trento Italy
Print this page City population: 538000Practice started in 2017

Summary

“Impronte” (“Footprints” in English) is aimed to promote active and healthy ageing through the use of geocaching maps and pedometers for monitoring average steps taken.

The initiative is intended to enhance the physical, mental and social potential of older people. Furthermore, geocaching allows to share and strengthen the interest in the historical and artistic heritage of the city.

A social cooperative with specific expertise in AHA initiatives was involved to help implement “Impronte”. The cooperative holds weekly courses on digital literacy for older adults. These courses aim to get people familiar with new technologies and laid the foundation for active participation in the “Impronte” initiative.

 

Website: https://progettoimpronte.wordpress.com/

Key facts

Main target group: Older people in general

Sector(s): Health

Other sector(s): tourism

Desired outcome for older people:
Be mobile

Other issues the Age-friendly practice aims to address:
  • Healthy behaviours (e.g. physical activity)
  • Intergenerational activities
  • Participation
  • Technologies

Contact details

Name: Balagna, Olivia

Email address: olivia.balagna@provincia.tn.it

Preferred language(s): English , French

Age-friendly practice in detail (click to expand):

Engaging the wider community

Project lead: Local authorities

Others involved in the project:
  • Older People’s Association
  • Research institution

How collaboration worked: The initiative “Impronte” was proposed by the research institute Bruno Kessler Foundation (FBK) as member of the competence centre for the development of digital health Trentino Salute 4.0 (TS4.0), which also includes the Autonomous Province of Trento (PAT) in the role of decision maker and the Provincial Healthcare Trust (APSS) in the role of manager and provider of health services. The competence centre TS4.0 held both the policy and the technical side of the initiative, while its implementation was carried on by a social cooperative with a specific expertise in services addressed to elderly people.

Older people’s involvement: Older people were consulted during the planning process

Details on older people’s involvement: 14 older people participated in the initiative. They frequented one of the care centers of Trento and they enrolled voluntarily to join the initiative. Participants were asked to wear a pedometer bracelet for the duration of the initiative to monitor if they would cover at least 10000 steps per day.

Moving forward

Has the impact of this age-friendly practice been analysed: No

Do you plan to evaluate your age-friendly practice? No

Feedback:
Each participant did more than the prescribed threshold of 10000 steps per day. “Impronte” received a really enthusiastic feedback from all the people involved. During the project, there was a noticeable improvement in healthy lifestyles through dedicated education, the promotion of social relations and the reduction of isolation.

Expansion plans:
“Impronte” started in 2017. Two similar initiatives, namely “Impronte nella scuola” (“Footprints at school”) and “Impronte nel parco” (“Footprints in the park”) with a similar duration have been already implemented in 2018. The design of the second edition of “Impronte” is ongoing.

Looking back

Reflections:
See next question

Challenges:
The main barrier was of a technological nature since the choice to use an open map for geocaching was not adequate for the target users, who would have preferred a customized and simpler interface.