The thermometer shows 30 or 32 degrees or even more – for many older people, this is a reason to stay at home or exercise as little as possible, because that is what has always been recommended. A research team led by the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology is convinced that this is the wrong approach. Especially in old age, regular physical activity is crucial for physical and mental health. The older you get, the more you should make sure you get enough physical activity.
The KliMate research project, led by Diotima Bertel from the AIT's Centre for Technology Experience, is investigating how digital technologies and new social formats, such as the ‘exercise get-together’, can be used to motivate older people to engage in moderate, temperature-appropriate physical activity together. The aim of the research project is to provide people with individualized exercise recommendations specific to their location and weather conditions – these will be developed as part of the project. Despite extreme weather conditions, the goal is to achieve 150 minutes of exercise per week and muscle-strengthening activities twice a week.
Social Experience Research
The project contributes to the Social Experience research focus at AIT. The focus is on the complex question of how technological innovations can best meet diverse social needs while at the same time creating social justice. Another crucial aspect is ecological sustainability. ‘At KliMate, our primary concern is to improve the physical and mental well-being of older people – new technologies can be a great help in this regard,’ explains Diotima Bertel.
The target group (aged 65 and over) was involved in the project from the outset. ‘At KliMate, we rely on the Living Lab method,’ explains researcher Markus Garschall, who brings many years of experience in the development of innovative health technologies to the project. ‘We understand a Living Lab to be a realistic innovation environment – this could be a retirement home, an apartment or a factory – in which new technologies, services or products are developed, tested and refined in a real-life context with the active participation of users and researchers.’ The Living Lab is researching how to empower older people to decide for themselves when and where physical activity is good for them, depending on the weather. An app will also be used for this purpose in the future.
KliMate project partners
In addition to the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, the Academy for Ageing Research at Haus der Barmherzigkeit, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences/Institute for Social Ecology (SEC), GeoSphere Austria, the Karl Landsteiner Institute for Health Promotion Research, NOUS Wissensmanagement FlexCo and Studio Dankl are also involved in the project. The project is funded by the FFG. More about the project here: https://kli-mate.at