Mada to launch new programmes for the elderly

The elderly in Qatar stand to gain from Mada’s (Qatar AssistiveTechnology Centre) ‘guides to ageing and technology’, scheduled to belaunched on November 12 and 28 with the aim of improving their qualityof life, it has been announced.Mada policy expert Ahmed Habib said yesterday that the new programmeswould guide the elderly in using technology more effectively, furtherhelping them live independently.“We recognised that as we grow older, we may lose our vision, ourhearing, our ability to move independently, many of the same principlesthat apply to people with disabilities (PWDs) will also apply toageing,” Habib said, adding that this guide can be used by policymakers, service providers, caregivers and people who work with theelderly, among others.Mada, a non-profit organisation established in June 2010 by the Ministryof Transport and Communications dedicated to connecting PWDs to theworld of information and communication technology (ICT), is alsocurrently working on how to support the elderly.The centre is collaborating with caregivers and professionals byproviding expert advice and assessment on a wide variety of ‘assistivetechnologies,’ which cater to persons with physical, hearing, visual andlearning disabilities.Mada provides technology through a ‘Universal Loan Programme’, wherebyQatar residents with disabilities can be provided with different accesstechnologies based on their needs and abilities.Habib said their new programmes and policies have been well researched, developed and published on a national level.“Our understanding of disability is that it is caused byinaccessibility, we don’t see disability as a medical condition. So, wedon’t use the medical model in understanding disability, we use what iscalled as the social model,” he said.“We believe that if you would create accessible spaces, an accessibleecosystem in that environment, then PWDs will not have disabilities,”Habib pointed out. “Their functional limitations will not be an issuefor them to be active participants in education or healthcare or anykind of social activities as well.”The centre is also working on a project with the banking sector,particularly with Qatar Central Bank, aimed at improving theaccessibility of automated teller machines (ATMs) to PWDs.He said they want to ensure that ATMs, an important digital platform, he said, meet international standards for accessibility.On December 10, the centre will be hosting the national governmente-accessibility awards to recognise government websites that are most‘e-accessible’ in the country.Habib said they work in the area of e-accessibility – the study ofcreating digital content according to international e-accessibilitystandards.“For example, if a person is blind and is using a screen reader to readcontents on a website, because he is unable to see it, that websiteneeds to be designed in a way that meets international standard for webaccessibility,” he explained.