Lupa Kata Sandi? Klik di Sini

atau Masuk melalui

Belum Memiliki Akun Daftar di Sini


atau Daftar melalui

Sudah Memiliki Akun Masuk di Sini

Konfirmasi Email

Kami telah mengirimkan link aktivasi melalui email ke rudihamdani@gmail.com.

Klik link aktivasi dan dapatkan akses membaca 2 artikel gratis non Laput di koran dan Majalah Tempo

Jika Anda tidak menerima email,
Kirimkan Lagi Sekarang

Seniors in Spain Stay Fit with Pokemon Go

Translator

Tempo.co

Editor

Laila Afifa

26 October 2019 10:08 WIB

TEMPO.COBadalona, Spain - At first, when she retired from a lifelong career in nursing in her native Spain, Joanna Perez Osuna struggled with a lack of purpose. Then she found solace in a virtual world populated by "Pikachus", "Weedles" and "Smeargles".

Perez started playing Pokemon Go, the augmented-reality game that encourages players to travel around looking through their mobile phone cameras so they can collect animated creatures that "appear" in front of them.

Now the 75-year-old spends up to six hours a day walking the streets of Badalona, a quiet Spanish town to the north of Barcelona, chasing after digital ghosts, dragons and monsters.

"I don't want to be stuck at home all afternoon watching television. I also don't want to sit around all day reflecting with people my age – I want to do something in the fresh air," Perez told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, chuckling.

As people live longer, the World Health Organization predicts that one in five - 2 billion people - will be aged 60 or older by 2050, double that of 2015.

And aging populations all over the world are already putting pressure on healthcare, infrastructure, housing and other social services.

Finding surprising ways to keep older people mentally and physically healthy is a point of pride for Badalona, one of nearly 80 cities, towns and regions taking part in this year's European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing.

Launched by the European Commission in 2012, the partnership aims to improve the health and quality of life of older citizens, such as those suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

The initiative wants to add two years to the average healthy lifespan of European Union citizens by 2020 - which currently stands at about 64 years.

Anca Paduraru, the European Commission's spokeswoman for public health projects, said countries should see aging as "an opportunity to innovate" and modernize health systems.

Perez, who was introduced to Pokemon Go by her daughter after it first launched three years ago, said she walks between 12 and 15 km (7-9 miles) every day playing the game.

Catching Pokemon is a good way of meeting people and getting to know Badalona better, she explained, because it takes her to neighbourhoods she would not normally visit.

And she is motivated by the health benefits of playing the game, which has helped her recover after she suffered a bout of skin cancer.

"One of the main reasons I play is to not put on too much weight – that's important," she said.

Relieving Isolation

Pokemon Go can be "a good way of connecting people with others so they are less isolated," said Carlos Sanchez, a social worker who works with people suffering from loneliness and other living difficulties in Badalona.

"It's most useful for people that don't have anything to fill their time, like if they don't have grandchildren to pick up from school," he stressed, adding that he recommends the game to some of his clients.

Jordi Piera Jimenez, chief information and R&D officer at public healthcare provider Badalona Care Services, agreed, adding that "more and more people are coming to live in cities and isolation is becoming a huge problem".

Almost 70% of the world's population is expected to be living in urban areas by 2050, according to the United Nations.

"Isolation and a feeling of loneliness are problems that in rural areas are less common because people are more resilient and used to taking care of each other ... Cities tend to be more impersonal," Piera lamented.

Spotting unmet demand, technology and toy companies are marketing devices such as robotic pets, like the therapeutic seal from Japanese company Paro which remembers how it has been stroked and responds to certain words.

There are also glasses from French firm Abeye that can call for help when they detect the wearer has taken a fall and artificial intelligence products like ElliQ, which initiates a conversation to keep older people company.

In Badalona, at least 300 residents aged 65 and over are using or have used Pokemon Go, Piera said.

Financing Pressure

Badalona - which, unlike most cities, owns its public healthcare system - is promoting and testing the use of digital healthcare solutions but is held back by funding issues, said Piera.

"We have some digital solutions deployed but not at the scale that we want to and not at the scale that we have tried," he said.

"We have tested a lot of things and we know that they work but making them real is very hard ... the government is not moving very fast."

Those solutions have so far included MasterMind, a computerised cognitive behavioural therapy programme that helps deal with depression, and the Do Change initiative, which monitors lifestyle changes to help users avoid cardiac problems, said Piera.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality did not respond to a request for comment.

Piera predicts the use of digital technology to help aging populations will be more common once the cost of new technology comes down.

But he stressed there is also the need for a change of mentality among the general public, who can be suspicious of new healthcare technology - especially if it gives patients more responsibility for their own treatment and care.

"We are not used to taking care of ourselves," he said. "We like doctors and nurses to come and take care of us."

Perez, the retired nurse, understands that playing Pokemon Go every day helps her keep her mind active, as well as to stay fit.

"Mentally it's also good. As I don't go to work anymore, I like to keep my mind working with an activity. It's both physical and mental," she said.

In the not-too-distant future, Perez and her friends could be walking robotic dogs around Badalona or attending a virtual therapy session on their mobile headsets before bed – but for now, hunting down a Pikachu will have to do.

REUTERS



Spain Air Drops 26 Tons of Humanitarian Aid to Gaza

1 hari lalu

Spain Air Drops 26 Tons of Humanitarian Aid to Gaza

Spanish military planes air dropped 26 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip on Wednesday, March 27.


6 Countries Stop Arms Sale to Israel as Attack Intensifies in Gaza

7 hari lalu

6 Countries Stop Arms Sale to Israel as Attack Intensifies in Gaza

Israel's brutal military offensive in Gaza has opened the eyes of several countries.


Six Countries Implementing Paid Paternity Leave Policies

9 hari lalu

Six Countries Implementing Paid Paternity Leave Policies

Paternity leave is a period of absence from work offered to a father after the birth of a child. Check out the list of 6 nations with such paid leave.


Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Must Heed Ethics, UI Researcher Says

10 hari lalu

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Must Heed Ethics, UI Researcher Says

The utilization of artificial intelligence or AI in medicine must still heed ethical principles.


Sorong Health Office Finds 47 Malaria Cases in January-March

12 hari lalu

Sorong Health Office Finds 47 Malaria Cases in January-March

The Health Office in South Sorong, Southwest Papua, found 47 malaria cases from January to March 2024 based on detection results and data collection.


Indonesia Delivers 10mn Doses of Polio Vaccines to Afghanistan

20 hari lalu

Indonesia Delivers 10mn Doses of Polio Vaccines to Afghanistan

Afghanistan is one of the countries in the world that is categorized as a polio-endemic country.


KPU Confirms Death of Two KPPS Officers in Jakarta

41 hari lalu

KPU Confirms Death of Two KPPS Officers in Jakarta

KPU Jakarta confirmed the death of two election organizing group (KPPS) officers in North Jakarta and Central Jakarta.


Epidemiologist Says Presidential Debate Fails to Tackle Health Issues; Prabowo's Solution 'Inappropriate'

52 hari lalu

Epidemiologist Says Presidential Debate Fails to Tackle Health Issues; Prabowo's Solution 'Inappropriate'

Presidential candidates failed to get at the heart of health issues discussed during the presidential debate, the epidemiologist said.


Presidential Debate: Ganjar Pranowo Pledges to Build Health Facilities in Every Village in Indonesia

53 hari lalu

Presidential Debate: Ganjar Pranowo Pledges to Build Health Facilities in Every Village in Indonesia

Presidential candidate number 3 Ganjar Prabowo promised to build health facilities in every village in Indonesia during the 5th presidential debate


Mesh Bio Raises US$3.5mn of Series A Funding to Make Digital Twin Technologies Available at Scale

58 hari lalu

Mesh Bio Raises US$3.5mn of Series A Funding to Make Digital Twin Technologies Available at Scale

Mesh Bio's funding round led by East Ventures will enable the scaling of deployment around Southeast Asia.