Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, social isolation is a barrier to curb the spread of the disease worldwide, but many elderly people were already socially isolated living in nursing homes and did not receive visits often, and now it is even more difficult for these visits to occur, and became increasingly lonely. According to data from NASA in 2010, about 7% of the Brazilian population was over 60 years old, currently, according to IBGE, it is already about 13%. This part of the population grows about 3% per year, according to ONU.
Based on studies carried out by NASA researchers, some side effects of isolation are already known as psychological problems, physical inactivity, and lack of direct social interaction, which affects your productivity in your daily routine, in addition to disrupting sleep, and tendencies to negative thoughts and self-destructive.
Our project seeks to entertain the elderly in this period through a platform that includes them in an online meet room and connects them with the person who wants to practice the native Portuguese language.
We created an interactive and intuitive platform with easy access for everyone that highlights the positive aspects of isolation to strengthen the user's psychological and physical system. In addition to providing the registered person with a routine that aims to transform their life.
The inspiration for choosing this challenge came after the consequences of social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, given that there is no conclusive research to prove its side effects on Earth, the studies made available by NASA relate to astronauts who spend a lot of time isolated on space missions. Based on this and the growing increase in the elderly population in the world, we saw the possibility of helping the older population not to succumb to the negative consequences that isolation brings, such as depression, irregular sleep, and other physical problems.
We use NASA research carried out during space missions, which are based on the journals of crew members in isolation, to assess what are the side effects and how to inhibit them.
Based on the research we seek to mitigate the impacts of the already known effects, we propose to minimize the feeling of indifference that the elderly may be feeling, through interactive meets with language students who wish to practice with native speakers.
Our future ideas for the application include all registered users can interact with one another to share experiences, these users will be connected based on your initial presets. Our plan is to introduce the person into a routine that aims to transform his life, increasing his productivity and encouraging him to be better at what he likes and to help other people who are in the same situation. We will be able to register nursing homes around the world in order to increase social impact globally.
Coding and support languages: JavaScript, CSS3, HTML5
Framework: jQuery and Bootstrap
Code repository, version control and to teamwork: GitHub
Deploy: Heroku
Library: SwitchAlert.
DUNBAR, BRIAN. The Human Body in Space. Available in <https://www.nasa.gov/hrp/bodyinspace>. Accessed on May 30, 2020
MALARIK, DAIANE. Advanced Search: Characterization of Psychological Risk, Overlap with Physical Health, and Associated Performance in Isolated, Confined, Extreme (ICE) Environments. Available in <https://taskbook.nasaprs.com/tbp/index.cfm?action=public_query_taskbook_content&TASKID=12495.> Accessed on May 30, 2020
DUNBAR, BRIAN. Social Isolation in Context. Available in <https://www.nasa.gov/hrp/social-isolation/in-context>. Accessed on May 30, 2020
UNKNOWN AUTHOR. Idosos indicam caminhos para uma melhor idade. Editoria Revista Retratos. Available in <https://censo2020.ibge.gov.br/2012-agencia-de-noticias/noticias/24036-idosos-indicam-caminhos-para-uma-melhor-idade.html>. Accessed on May 30, 2020
UNKNOWN AUTHOR. A ONU e as pessoas idosas. Available in <https://nacoesunidas.org/acao/pessoas-idosas/ >. Accessed on May 30, 2020
UNKNOWN AUTHOR. SEDAC Global COVID-19. Available in <https://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/mapping/popest/covid-19/>. Accessed on May 30, 2020