14-03-2024 15:11
On March 14, 2024, the Bulgarian Red Cross (BRC) organized the final conference under project “Innovative Community Care Models in Favour of People with Chronic Diseases and Permanent Disabilities” financed by Programme “Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Enhanced Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups”. BRC’s partners are the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, Ministry of Health and Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities.
At the official opening, greetings were given by Assoc. Prof. Mihail Okoliyski, Deputy Minister of Health; Mrs. Elka Nalbantova, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Policy; Acad. Hristo Grigorov, Chairman of the BRC; Ms. Maria Vasileva-Valova, Director of the External European Programs Directorate at the Ministry of Education and Science and Head of the Programme Operator; Mr. Bjørn Rongevær, Senior Advisor of the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities; Mr. Boyan Minkov, Mayor of Belogradchik Municipality; and Mr. Rosen Dobrev, Mayor of Oryahovo Municipality.
The main focus of the project is the introduction of a remote care model – telecare, as part of the integrated health and social services system for elderly people with chronic diseases and permanent disabilities. The telecare system provides continuous, automatic and remote monitoring of real-time emergencies and lifestyle changes aiming at control of the risks arising from the independent lifestyle of the elderly and other factors such as deteriorated health, lack of adequate medical care and social services in some settlements, etc. Thus, the admission to social institutions and/or frequent hospitalizations of users for various social reasons is being prevented.
At the conference, the successful results of the pilot telecare system implementation in seven municipalities in northwestern Bulgaria were presented: Vratsa, Oryahovo, Byala Slatina, Krivodol, Vidin, Belogradchik and Montana. Participants shared their experiences and expertise, highlighting the importance of innovation in the care of elderly people with chronic diseases and permanent disabilities.