Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

A new possibility for dialogue between guests and their loved ones favored by digital tools

The project promoted by the Amplifon Foundation, Cisco, Durante and the Municipality of Milan, with the support of UNEBA Lombardia, brings advanced telepresence solutions always available to ten healthcare residences and involves 2.100 elderly people

Here I am! was born in the current health situation but looks to the future to expand the possibilities for relationships between RSAs and the community

Milan, November 3 2020 - Technology and heart enter ten RSAs in the Milan area, with large screens and powerful connections, to bridge the distance between elderly guests and their loved ones. During a virtual press conference attended by the Mayor of Miano Giuseppe Sala, the councilor for social and housing policies Gabriele Rabaiotti, the General Manager of the Amplifon Foundation Maria Cristina Ferradini, the CEO of Cisco Agostino Santoni, the President UNEBA Lombardia Luca Degani was presented today Eccomi!: a project promoted by the Amplifon Foundation, Cisco, Durante and the Municipality of Milan, with the support of UNEBA Lombardia, created to offer guests of healthcare residences new tools for communicating with families .

Starting today, a Cisco Webex DX80 telepresence station is active in ten facilities for the reception and care of the elderly: a solution that offers people, through a 24-inch screen, the possibility of communicating with their loved ones even in video, with simple gestures like making a phone call and with very high image and sound quality, for an experience of "co-presence" very close to in-person dialogue. The guests' family members, for their part, can use any device connected to the Internet to connect: smartphone, PC or tablet.

The systems are installed free of charge and each RSA, and remote users, have continuous assistance thanks to the collaboration with the Durante company, which has signed an agreement in this regard with the Amplifon Foundation for the management and maintenance of the systems and to facilitate communication between RSA guests and their family members.

“In recent months due to the pandemic - declared the Mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala - elderly people, especially if guests of RSAs, have had to live separated from their loved ones without meeting and hugging them. A necessary choice to protect them from the virus, but at the same time a huge pain for them and their family members forced to see and hear them only from the small screen of a smartphone. Now - continued Mayor Sala - thanks to the initiative and generosity of Cisco, Durante and the Amplifon Foundation, the meetings, although still remote, will be able to take place on large, clear screens and with enhanced audio. It will almost be like seeing and talking to each other face to face. I therefore thank these three companies - concluded the Mayor - for the gift given to the elderly and to our structures. They contributed concretely and in a very difficult period to improve the days of those who, at this moment, are truly more fragile and alone".

Here I am! represents an effective model of collaboration between public and private, which combines the forces of subjects whose complementary skills and competences allow the rapid launch of initiatives that help institutions respond to new needs, opening a dialogue with all the subjects involved. The project was also carried out in constant dialogue with UNEBA, an association that brings together around a thousand entities in the health and social care sector throughout Italy, of which 400 in Lombardy: almost all non-profit organizations with Christian roots, the majority of which are facilities for non-self-sufficient elderly people.

“This is an initiative that concretely seeks to meet the needs of many elderly residents in retirement homes and RSAs – explains Maria Cristina Ferradini, Managing Director of the Amplifon Foundation –. The lockdown has led to a situation of prolonged isolation, which must be fought with all our strength not only because it affects the quality of daily life and their serenity, but also because it can also generate cognitive and relational problems. Giving an elderly person the opportunity to communicate and see their loved ones in a simple and immediate way has a huge value that affects their well-being and general state of health."

For the future, in the intentions of the promoters and in particular of the leader of the Amplifon Foundation project, Eccomi! it is a project that could also be extended to other Italian cities.

According to the CEO of Cisco Italia Agostino Santoni Here I am! “It highlights very clearly the value of technology as an opportunity to improve people's lives. Our daily work aims to allow institutions, businesses and communities to exploit the full potential of digital for their needs while at the same time contributing to creating a more inclusive world with a great goal, which can only be achieved by networking: Here I am! it is an example of how to profitably connect resources and skills to create a positive impact”.

As a further initiative in favor of the guests of the RSAs, the Amplifon Foundation and Cisco intend to propose to their employees, as part of the company's volunteering activities, to make time available for video calls and chats with hospitalized elderly people.

“When the Amplifon Foundation and Cisco - intervenes the councilor for social and housing policies Gabriele Rabaiotti - proposed us to experiment with telepresence in the RSAs with a loan for the use of the technological tools and their free technical assistance, we greatly appreciated it. In the RSAs we experience all the delicacy and complexity of the pandemic, but we have seen in the managers the determination, attention and professionalism necessary to manage this very important service in the safest way. In addition to caring for the elderly and the elderly hosted, it becomes important to guarantee contact that can bring them closer to their families, relatives and friends. It is an essential digital bridge, which tells us that we must look for all possible ways to keep relations and relationships open between the people welcomed and their families".

“I would like to express my great thanks to the Amplifon Foundation, Cisco, Durante and the Municipality of Milan – declares Luca Degani, President of Uneba Lombardia –. The telepresence system will allow hundreds of elderly people and their family or friends to feel a little closer even now that they are forced to stay apart to protect each other from the disease. Once again, the commitment of the women and men who work in the RSAs will be fundamental, as they will help the elderly to use this gift that the structures have received".

The RSAs involved in the project are the Gerosa Brichetto, Famagosta, Pindaro, Ferrari, Casa dei Coniugi, Fondazione Biffi, Piccola Casa del Rifugio, Istituto Sacra Famiglia, Istituto don Gnocchi, Casa Verdi structures.