09 Health Apps for Elderly (Course9-EN)

Units

  9.2 Experiential training sess...
9.1 Teaching Session

Objectives

  • To equip participants with the knowledge needed to identify relevant areas of healthy ageing and to make informed decisions about influencing ageing processes, regaining abilities or self-managing activities of daily living (ADL).

  • To equip participants with the knowledge required to use apps as valuable tools for healthy and active ageing.

Competences

  • Participants will be equipped with the skills to critically reflect their own lives or lives of loved ones to identify key areas of healthy ageing and to assess the potential of apps to address these.

  • Participants’ skills will be enhanced in order to make informed decisions about app selection, as well as to reflect barriers and facilitators to usage in everyday life, if they wish so.

Duration: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Resources for 9.1

ETA 9.1 Teaching Session (online)
ETA 9.1 Teaching Session (pdf)

9.1.1. General Information about ageing

Duration: 20 minutes

This introduction to general information about ageing will cover the following topics:

  • Ageing processes
  • Factors influencing ageing processes
  • Stereotypes about ageing
  • Heterogeneity of ageing
  • Concept of (Active and) Healthy Ageing.

Resources: 

  • ETA - 9 Teaching Session (9.1), Unit 9.1.1 

9.1.2. Functional ability, key areas of Healthy ageing and activities of daily living

Duration: 30 minutes

The specific content is demonstrated below:

  • Cognitive activities, physical activities, social engagement, mental health, chronic disease and disabilities.
  • Activities of daily living in relation to key areas

Resources: 

  • ETA - 9 Teaching Session (9.1), Unit 9.1.2 

9.1.3 Health Apps for the Elderly and their benefits

Duration: 30 minutes

Participants will be introduced to the most common characteristics:

  • Self monitoring/tracking
  • Goal setting
  • Cues or push notifications
  • Social support rewards

Activity: The trainer will ask the participants to share if they have already had experiences with using health apps and how it helped them or not. Results are meant to be discussed with the group.

Resources:

  • ETA - 9 Teaching Session (9.1), Unit 9.1.3

9.1.4. Real-Life Integration Scenario

Duration: 20 minutes

Participants will learn about:

  • Identifying/Experiencing a problem in ADL
  • Identifying an App to address this
  • Identifying support measures for usage
  • Perceived benefits of one App for healthy ageing

Activity: Participants will then be divided into small groups and will be asked to identify areas of healthy ageing in their own life or in the lives of their relatives that could benefit from Health Apps, based on the aforementioned theoretical input. Conclusions will be shared with the group and awaited benefits will be noted down individually. This reflection of potential real-life benefits of Health Apps for healthy ageing will prepare the next step, i. e. the selection of Apps for the experiential training. If there is one common need in an area of healthy ageing among participants, the entire group can focus on it.

Resources: 

  • ETA - 9 Teaching Session (9.1), Unit 9.1.4

9.1.5 Navigating Apps and evaluating potential benefits

Duration: 20 minutes

In this unit the trainer will introduce an overview of available Health Apps for healthy ageing/ADL.

Activity: The participants will be asked to explore different Health Apps and apply knowledge and reflection skills learned in the prior theoretical inputs. Particularly, participants will:

  • Go through Apps based on prior individual reflection of awaited benefits
  • Choose one and download it
  • Navigate through the App, exploring features, use and settings
  • Identify support measures for initial and consistent usage
  • Rethink assessment of potential benefits

Resources:

  • ETA - 9 Teaching Session (9.1), Unit 9.1.5

9.1.6. Discussion and open questions

Duration: 20 minutes

The trainer will encourage participants to present their own reflection of the most important key area of healthy ageing, the Health App chosen to improve this area, the awaited benefits as well as the identified support measures for consistent usage in everyday life.

The trainer will encourage participants to ask questions related to all previous contents.

Resources:

  • ETA - 9 Teaching Session (9.1), Unit 9.1.6

9.1.7. Next steps, evaluation and Closure

Duration: 10 minutes

Finally, the trainer will explain the next steps in the module, i. e. the experiential training activity and session as well as contents on the e-Training Platform.

References and further readings will be displayed and the trainer will refer participants to these for better comprehension of module’s content.

The evaluation questionnaire will be displayed.

Resources: 

  • ETA - 9 Teaching Session (9.1), Unit 9.1.7