The health channel includes 21 COVID-19 information groups into which the 2,400 elderly users of VinclesBCN have been divided, through which the health team will pass on information that may be of interest to them concerning the pandemic

The measure, which has been developed by the Department of Children, Young People and the Elderly and the Department of Health, has been introduced to provide official, accurate support responding to the needs and concerns of VinclesBCN users

With VinclesBCN, users can manage their social relationships by using a simple application installed on a tablet or smartphone

The VinclesBCN Service dedicated to alleviating loneliness among the elderly, is adapting to COVID-19 and opening a new health channel to personally answer the questions of its 2,400 elderly users. They are all more than 65 years old and live alone. The service is based on an app installed on a tablet or smartphone that enables communication through the internet, which these people are already used to.

In addition to answering individual questions, the health channel includes 21 COVID-19 information groups into which the 2,400 elderly users of VinclesBCN have been divided. It will be the main channel through which the health team passes on information that may be of interest to elderly people.

The measure, which has been developed by the Department of Children, Young People and the Elderly and the Department of Health, has been introduced to provide official, accurate support responding to the needs and concerns of the 2,400 VinclesBCN users, since they are one of the most vulnerable groups affected by COVID-19. It is in no way intended to be an emergency telephone number. So we make clear in all communications that it is an information telephone number and that the emergency telephone numbers are 061 and 112.

With VinclesBCN, users can manage their social relationships by using a simple application installed on a tablet or smartphone to communicate with both their usual personal environment (family and friends), and other VinclesBCN users with whom they create groups based on where they live or topics of interest.

The new health channel being created is managed by a health team made up of a doctor and nurse, who answer the various questions posed by the channel through text or voice message.

VinclesBCN

VinclesBCN is a service provided by Barcelona City Council that combats loneliness by strengthening the social relationships of elderly people who feel lonely and improving their well-being with new technologies.

The profile of VinclesBcn users is a person over 65 years old, who is a registered resident of Barcelona and feels lonely. The 40 Social Services centers in the city are the main referrers, although the health service also refers people to the service.

This service originated from a social innovation project that began in 2014 when Barcelona won the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge 2014.