Employment fills a large proportion of our lives and influences the way we live. It creates meaning, provides financial security, influences our social status, contributes to self-esteem, and has an impact on our social relationships at work and beyond. Employment even after retirement has been identified to positively influence life satisfaction, especially for individuals aged 65 years and older. ProMe seeks to provide meaningful opportunities for occupation in the life of older adults, in the transition from work to retirement and beyond.

Older adults have acquired a considerable amount of professional formal and tacit knowledge. ProMe allows professional intergenerational cooperation and mentoring via an online service platform, bringing together older adults with younger generations, based on theoretical concepts for mentoring. Current professional social networks (e.g., Xing, LinkedIn etc.) allow strengthening social relations among people who, for example, share interests and activities. In addition to this, ProMe offers the opportunity for older adults’ meaningful occupation on a voluntary basis through taking an active role as a mentor. It encourages them to share their professional knowledge and expertise with younger generations, including those who are seeking career or more general life advice. ProMe enables older adults to continue and manage meaningful occupation, allowing them to take an active role in social and working life, even after retirement. This in turn creates value for the society and economy as a whole. The ProMe platform will provide different opportunities for informal communication through a variety of functionalities (e.g., Video/Text-Chat, Email, Blogs, Forums, etc.). ProMe does not simply offer informal means of communication. Instead, it provides potential end users with the opportunity to take over different kinds of ‘mentoring roles’, supported by offering those functionalities that support specific roles best.

Objectives:

The project aims at offering an ICT solution that facilitates intergenerational dialogue, lifelong learning and to create value among generations. ProMe seeks to provide meaningful opportunities for occupation in the life of older adults, in the transition from work to retirement and beyond. It allows:

• the exchange of professional formal and tacit knowledge,
• intergenerational cooperation and mentoring via an online service, bringing together older adults with younger generations, and
• meaningful occupation on a voluntary basis.

Expected results and impact:

The outcome of the project will improve the quality of life, autonomy, and participation in social life by offering a platform that:

• offers an opportunity for meaningful occupation;
• supports lifelong learning among generations and, thus, creates value for the society as a whole;
• encourages intergenerational cooperation, by motivating and empowering users to share their tacit and formal knowledge; and
• strengthens existing social ties and allows making new acquaintances by being easily accessible from existing social network sites and, thus, it contributes to social capital.

Partners:

• Center for HCI, University of Salzburg (PLUS)
• National Foundation for the Elderly (NFE)
• General Association of Engineers in Romania (AGIR)
• SIVECO Romania SA (SIVECO)
• GlukAdvice (GLUK)
• Inventya Ltd (INV)
• EURAG Austria (EUR)
• Leuven University College (Subcontracted Partner)

Duration: 04/2014-04/2017

Funding: The ProMe project is co-funded by the AAL Joint Programme and the related National Authorities in Austria, Romania, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom.

Website: http://pro-me.eu/