Title of your hackathon challenge
Digital solutions for reducing environmental impact of home care for elderly
Describe your organisation
Stockholm Digital Care is a five year collaborative project between:
- Kommunförbundet i Stockholms län
- Stockholm County Council
- The Municipality of Huddinge
- The Municipality of Nacka
- The Municipality of Södertälje
- The City of Stockholm
- SICS Swedish ICT AB.
The project is financed by the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Tillväxtverket). The project will stimulate growth in the County of Stockholm, among small and medium-sized enterprises, developing digital products and services for the elderly.
Describe your challenges
The demographic challenge
The populations of Sweden and Europe are getting older.
100 hundred years ago, the population in Sweden was made up of mostly younger people and few elderly. This has changed with longer life spans and reduced childbirth. The number of elderly in the population is expected to increase by 30 percent between 2010 and 2050. That means that one quarter of the population will be 65 years or older by the year 2050. Within the next few years, a large portion of the population will reach retirement age. This will severely affect the so-called, provider burden. Fewer people will bear the responsibility of providing for many. At the same time, we will see a decrease in the number of people working full time. One estimate shows that the healthcare costs may increase with up to 270 percent until the year 2040. Source: Folkhälsomyndigheten
The transportation challenge
How can digital solutions help reducing driving in home care?
The elderly need daily support and care, meal deliveries, restock of medicines and daily living aids, as well as medical attention from a nurse. In the cities, caregivers normally work within a small geographical area.
We know today that the short-distance drives are the most polluting ones, measured per kilometer. Gasoline consumption and carbon dioxide emissions are about 35 percent higher during the first five kilometers, since a cold engine requires a fatter mix of fuel. Road traffic generates about one third of carbon dioxide emissions in Sweden and half of all drives are shorter than five kilometers. In urban areas the short drives are even more frequent and shorter than in the rest of the country. The average car consumes 1,4 litres of gasoline during the first five kilometers. Source: Naturskyddsföreningen Stockholms län.
Within municipal home care, car driving is the standard mode of transportation when caregivers visit the elderly in their homes to provide daily assistance. Hundreds of home care vehicles are constantly rolling the streets, 24 hours a day in the County of Stockholm on their way to the homes of the elderly. How can we reduce the mileage on the car fleets without affecting the quality of care for the elderly?
The food challenge
How can digital solutions be used to create a better meal experience, while at the same time reducing impact on the climate?
Today, meals are often delivered to the elderly by one supplier. This can lead to deliveries being made straight from the factory to the homes of the elderly, with very long driving distances. The meals are delivered once a week and each meal is then heated by the elderly person or by home care staff every day.
Appropriate nutrition is important for elderly people in order to maintain health and prevent illness. Meal distribution will be an area where higher demands will be made, regarding quality and freedom of choice. Freedom to choose between different kinds of individually adapted food, but also the freedom to choose when to have meals delivered and when to eat. How can we improve the meal experience for the elderly without increasing CO2 emissions from food production, cooking and transportation and at the same time maintain cost efficiency?
What kind of solutions are you looking for?
We are looking for truly innovative products, services or concepts that can help public service meet the demographic challenge ahead. The solution can be used by the elderly, by their relatives, by caregivers or other parts of public service that interact with the elderly.
How are you planning to take the best solutions further after the hackathon
Stockholm Digital Care will stimulate growth in companies that develop digital products or services for the elderly. We will give the winning project VIP status to utilize the support functions that will be available through Stockholm Digital Care. We can also showcase the winner to potential customers within public service through our network.
Name and contact info to person or persons the team can contact regarding the challenge
Emma Eng, Project Manager Stockholm Digital Care, emma.eng[at]stockholm.se, +46 76 123 62 34
