The 6th Local Regional Stakeholders Group Meeting: ”Managing the Digital Divide during COVID-19 crisis for improving Home Care and related public health legal framework” in Romania was organized online in Bucharest, Romania, on 23rd August, inside HoCare project in the framework of Interreg Europe’s 5th Call for proposals. The main objective of this meeting was to exchange experiences on how the Covid-19 crisis has impacted the digital divide in home care and how it can be managed by providing innovative home care solutions based on the quadruple-helix cooperation in R&I in the home care domain. Aspects related to possible measures that can lead to the improvement of the legal framework in the field of public health aimed at home care solutions were also addressed. The invited participants were selected in order to provide a comprehensive and reliable view and analysis of the current situation in Romania in the ICT applied in the home care domain. The event was structured into 5 sections: 1. The Interreg Europe HoCare project - presentation of the regional report developed in the first semester of 2022; 2. Brief review of the challenges and improvements identified as impact of the pandemic crisis in the field of health and home care; 3. The impact of the digital divide in home care during the Covid-19 crisis on the usability and accessibility of home care solutions; 4. Roundtable and exchange of experience on managing the digital divide to improve home care solutions and the associated legal framework in the field of public health; 5. Conclusions. During the event, it was pointed out that the major psychological effects felt both by the senior patients and their healthcare providers were emphasized in the context of the increased use of digital technologies for sustaining the management of their health status. It was underlined the necessity of a deeper and broader implication of the stakeholders in implementing improved home care solutions and the associated legal framework in the field of public health. A more active exchange of experience in the home care at the European level could better support the development and implementation of models of good practices in Romania. The stakeholders presented at the meeting appreciated the positive results of the event, both for the knowledge of the problem at the global level, and for putting in contact all those interested in the issue of elderly people and home care in Romania.
