DIGITALIS project aimed to fundamentally transform the landscape of informal care by empowering FICs with the critical digital skills and knowledge necessary to harness the full potential of digital healthcare services and technologies. By equipping FICs with these tools, we sought to significantly enhance their professional capabilities and, more importantly, elevate the quality of life and safety of their care recipients. To achieve this transformative goal, DIGITALIS focused on 4specific objectives (SO): SO1, to develop and implement a tailored training program in Greece and Hungary, specifically designed to bolster the digital employability skills of FICs. SO2, to map and validate the national digital healthcare ecosystems in these pilot countries, ensuring that the development of digital skills aligns directly with the identified needs of FICs. SO3, to create and rigorously test innovative e-learning modules, grounded in social innovation and human-centered design, to optimize the learning experience for FICs. SO4, to synthesize the project’s outcomes, including best practices, caregiver narratives, and policy recommendations, into a comprehensive guide, facilitating widespread dissemination and replication across Europe.
The rapid advancement of digital transformation in healthcare, driven by technologies like Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML), presented an immense potential to enhance the quality and reliability of care, particularly for older adults. However, this progress introduced critical challenges: ensuring health equity and social inclusion in a digitally driven landscape. Access to technology alone is insufficient; users, especially informal caregivers, required specific digital skills to fully leverage these opportunities. Given the pivotal role of these caregivers, often termed the 'invisible front-line care,' and their substantial economic contribution to long-term care, the DIGITALIS project was conceived to directly address this gap. Recognizing the essential yet often overlooked contribution of female informal caregivers (FICs), this project aims to cover this need and to empower them with the necessary digital skills to navigate and utilize these technologies effectively, thereby mitigating the risks of exclusion and ensuring equitable access to improved healthcare outcomes.