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The new momentum of personal autonomy and quality of life
Publication date: June 2008
Exhibits from around a hundred companies dedicated to personal autonomy and quality of life; a showcase of new technologies and prototypes for the care of dependent and disabled people; an exhibition on an adapted digital home; and different workshops on medicine, care, company management and social integration. These are the contents of Fira de Barcelona’s new show, Avante, which will be held from the 5th to the 7th of June in the Gran Via exhibition centre, and which expects over 12,000 professional visitors, delegates and users.
With a stands space of 4,500m2, Avante will be divided into five areas: solutions, innovations and new medical technologies; care and specialist services; home and family, with products and equipment for improving autonomy, safety and quality of life; urban accessibility and mobility, with proposals to create unlimited, accessible and more comfortable surroundings; and life, society and company, with bodies which promote equal opportunities and the participation of elderly, dependent or disabled persons.
R&D&I Area
One of the main attractions will be the technological innovation and Networking space, the R&D&I Area, in which companies, technological development centres and universities will present around twenty highly technological products and prototypes for use in the spheres of health, welfare and domestic care through an exhibition and the know-how Agora. The functionalities and applications of these solutions, as well as other health technology projects related to dependency will be shown through a series of conferences and round tables coordinated by the Tic Salut Foundation.
The show will also host the intelligent room exhibition “Hogar Avante” a 112-m2 apartment totally adapted and equipped with products and new technologies at the service of dependency, disability and quality of life. This project, coordinated by the La Salle university centre, has the cooperation of the ONCE Foundation, Vodafone, Grohe, Oihana Pardo, Wissner Bosserhoff, Btcino and JR Sistemas de Seguridad.
Workshops
Avante 2008 will set the scene for important workshops and congresses aimed at healthcare professionals, scientists, social-health workers, administration technicians, investors and other dependency and disability-related groups.
The latest know-how on spinal cord injuries -new rehabilitation strategies and advances on future repair- will be the topic of the 20th Guttman Institute Technical Workshops on the 5th and 6th of June with the participation of basic, clinical and technological researchers from all over the world. On the 5th of June, the Guttmann institute will also organise a seminar to reveal the results of recent research, carried out in the framework of the BBVA Foundation Bio-Medicine Chair, into non-invasive brain stimulation in neurorehabilitation and its application in clinical practice.
On the first day of the show, accreditation of the quality of welfare and dependency services will be the topic at an Edad&Vida Foundation workshop, which will analyse the accreditation trends and models of Autonomous Communities, as well as experiences in Japan, Germany and Great Britain. On the 6th of June, another Edad&Vida Foundation workshop on cooperation between the public sector and private initiative will respond to the new demands on welfare services required by the Dependency Law.
On the 5th and 6th of June, the Equipara Foundation and HSM will hold the First International Congress on Employers and Disability. This event will analyse the current integration of disabled persons in SMEs and large companies and will provide an outlook on personnel management companies. It will also serve to debate legislation, to explain cases of other European and Latin American countries and to present strategies of integration through sport and culture. Lastly, on the 6th of June, Turisme de Catalunya and Acces Turismo will present a study and a guide on accessible tourism in Catalonia and, on the 7th of June, Agrupació Mútua and INSCOR will organise a workshop on the prevention of cardiovascular disease.
Avante 2008 has the sponsorship of the ONCE Foundation, Vodafone and the Catalan Generalitat’s Departament d’Acció Social i Ciutadania, as well as the Edad&Vida Foundation, the Federación Española de Empresas de Tecnología Sanitaria (FENIN), the Guttmann Institute and TIC Salut. The show targets professional visitors, although users with real needs and their relatives can also visit the show.
Barcelona, June 2008
Images at http://premsa.firabcn.es (2008 shows – Avante 2008)
Head of press: Maria Dolors Herranzº
Contact telephoneo: 93 233 25 41
Email address: mdherranz@firabcn.es