BUILT

Built

The BUILT module focuses on housing, public spaces, buildings and mobility which are the domains constituting the physical dimension of WHO’s age-friendly environments. Undoubtedly, the built environment largely influences our health and wellbeing and, where it is properly implemented, it can keep us healthy and independent for longer. This is vital in view of the growing numbers of older people across Europe, who are particularly vulnerable to low quality physical environment. The safer, more comfortable, smarter and easier-to-maintain the built environment is, the more people will be able to remain healthy, meaning more savings in social and health care. In this sense apart from focusing on purely physical dimensions, the BUILT module will also pay attention to healthcare, social care and health.

BUILT aims to deliver training packages and hands-on tools to improve the skills of people of all ages, to enable them to choose to create smart healthy age-friendly physical environments in their own homes or neighbourhoods. Other goals are to teach facilitators, counsellors and end users how to remove physical barriers and create comfortable, safe, smart and easy to maintain dwellings as well as public spaces, especially for people who have problems with freely movement or for those who have illnesses such as dementia. The main areas of interests are housing, public spaces, including public buildings, mobility, as well as appropriate design according to healthy issues of older people. Packages include information about universal design, apartment adjustment and retrofitting and development of accessibility as well. Common goal of all modules is to enhance social inclusion.

Modules