Wednesday 7 November 2012

Forever young

Yesterday a conference took place in Brussels concerning active and healthy ageing. The European Innovation Partnership was called to life to change how health and social care for older people are delivered across Europe. It consists of stakeholders from public and private sector, but also academics, representatives of NGOs, health providers, etc. Six Action Plans have been prepared that are to improve quality of life of senior citizens. These action plans concern: 

  • prescription adherence - today only 25% of senior EU citizens with chronic conditions take their medication correctly and timely, 
  • fall prevention - aims at introducing programmes for fall prevention (e.g. tele-monitoring, active lifestyle marketing) and early diagnosis, 
  • frailty and malnutrition - aimed at care providers to ensure that senior citizens follow a healthy and active regime of diet and exercise, 
  • integrated care - implementing programmes that would allow for integrated care especially of older people with chronic diseases, 
  • independent living - providing senior citizens with tele-monitoring, alarm options, social contacts, etc. that would enable them to stay in their own homes living independently longer,
  • age-friendly environments - designing villages and cities with more places to rest, easier access to buildings and safer public spaces. (Active and healthy ageing: concrete plans for a better life for older Europeans)