VINCLES-COVID

For people over 70 years of age, the most affected by the pandemic (86% of deaths in Spain), distancing measures protected them but also strengthened social isolation, causing negative consequences on their physical and psychological health and damaging their dignity and moral integrity. They have been related to increasing risk of abuse, mistreatment and violation of rights against older people, both at home and in residential homes. In order to avoid such negative consequences, the digitalisation of support and elderly care services, as well as of neighbourhood and family support networks, has been essential. In this sense, the municipal service VinclesBCN has been a key element in articulating this type of community response: firstly, because its main objective has been the prevention of social isolation and unwanted loneliness, a problem that could be aggravated during confinement and post-confinement and as a consequence of exposure to contagion, especially among older people due to the risk of contracting COVID-19. Secondly, the fact that VinclesBCN is a digital social network has allowed its users to maintain social contact without the need for physical contact, therefore, from home and safely. In other words, VinclesBCN is a space for socialising that didn’t close down during the pandemic, and therefore people could continue to meet and do some social activities without the risks of face-to-face contact. Thirdly, VinclesBCN has created a space to provide health information, counselling and cover support needs. 

This project aims to assess whether VINCLESBCN has become an infrastructure that reinforces community resilience in crisis situations such as COVID-19.

The objective of the VINCLES-COVID project is to evaluate the performance of the service across all channels during the pandemic, in order to understand to what extent it has contributed to strengthening the social connectivity of its users and the community resilience in the face of the pandemic, as well as for whom it has done so and for whom it has not. By identifying the social connectivity and support needs that were met and unmet by the service, we will provide recommendations that may help the municipal service VINCLESBCN become an infrastructure that strengthens the community resilience of Barcelona, a city that is increasingly aging and will face health and environmental crises with growing frequency.