Seniors project Power ends: Who will now take care of the digital?

Seniors project Power ends: Who will now take care of the digital?

In the structurally weak region of Weimarer Land, a remarkable project came to an early end. The “Power” project (patient -oriented further training) was successfully completed at the end of June 2025 after it was able to benefit significantly from federal funds. The Thuringian Volkshochschulverband and the Weimarer Land district college were responsible for the training offers. The training was primarily aimed at seniors over 60 years, mostly women who wanted to make themselves digitally fitter. Lecturer Ariane Frank introduced the participants to the world of digital health, with topics such as the electronic patient files, video consultation and the e-recipe on the curriculum, such as MDR reported.

The training courses took place in different places, including Bad Sulza and Kranichfeld, and were housed in fire station, club rooms and restaurants. The project was designed particularly mobile to give access to less mobile seniors. These used their own smartphones or tablets, while the lecturers showed tricks and tricks to effectively use the devices. There was great interest in digital health apps and the e-recipe, but now the participants have to do without this valuable support. The end of village care Jutta Oschmann, who sees the existing interest in the training courses and is committed to a sequel, is particularly regrettable.

The challenges of digitization in healthcare

Digitization in healthcare offers great potential for improved medical care for older people. However, there are also many challenges. A current press release of the Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ) emphasizes that this regularly Use the Internet - around 70 percent of the older population - but only 20 percent can imagine digital office hours. This shows the gap that needs to be bridged.

At the conference "Understanding Health on E-recipe? Understanding and strengthening competencies" on May 16, 2024 in Berlin, the need to not only improve technical usability, but also to promote understanding of digital offers and services. It is crucial for the acceptance of digital health treatments to actively integrate the seniors into the process of digital transformation and to take their fears, because many fear that e-health offers are too complicated. This is a core topic for the value-binding design of e-health offers, as is also emphasized

The digital pact age: a glimmer of hope

Especially in times when digital solutions are becoming increasingly important, it is important that offers such as the “Power” project remain. This is the only way to enable older people to benefit from the advantages of digital health care and at the same time to master the everyday challenges of digitization.