A visit to Norway was carried out in the framework of the project for the purpose of training in the field of services for elderly people and people with permanent disabilities in home environment as well as provision of digital monitoring – teleassistance and telecare.

The visit was attended by the representatives of the project management team, some of the coordinators of the Home Care Centers operating under the project in Northwestern Bulgaria, as well as one representative from each of the Bulgarian partners in the project – the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy.

The programme included visits to the municipalities of Vaksdal and Masfjorden to learn about their activities, as well as meetings with experts from the Centre for Care Research at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergen. A call-cetre in Bergen was also visited. Various aspects of the process of implementing services for elderly and disabled people in Norway were presented, including policies and strategies at national level. The main priority is to ensure that older people live with dignity and independence in their own homes for as long as possible, as well as to achieve digitalization of services in the whole country by 2025.

The visit was organised with the support of the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities – KS, and is extremely useful with a view to the implementation of future project activities in particular the integration of teleassistance and telecare services into the system of medico-social services at home in Bulgaria.