The Swedish government sponsored the Technology for the Elderly program from 2007 to 2013. The program supported the development of innovative technology products and services designed to assist elderly people and their relatives in their daily lives. In this interview, Dr. Raymond Dahlberg, a former researcher and development coordinator for the program, talks about his role in Technology for the Elderly.
Technology for the Elderly distributed sixty six million Swedish kronor (about eight million US dollars) for the development of projects that took place all over the country. The government divided the Technology for the Elderly program into three areas of interest. The first area addressed informal caregivers. Projects included Caredo, a wireless homecare safety system, and Call Center for Relatives, a videophone support system for relatives. The second addressed housing issues with projects such as Care IP, an alarm unit with a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) backup, and preventive training with outdoor equipment. The third area provided information about and accessibility to projects such as the Doro phone, a mobile phone designed for the elderly.
Dahlberg describes the strengths of the program and projects that were successful. He also mentiones lessons learned from the program, concluding that smaller programs were less successful than those that received greater funding.