The European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (the Partnership) was initiated in October 2010 to tackle the common challenge of an ageing population in Europe. It brings together public and private stakeholders to develop new innovations which can improve the quality of life of older people, whilst simultaneously creating market opportunities for businesses.
**Marketplace for innovation now open**
The European Commission has established a digital platform to enable interested organisations to share ideas and practices, access data, find partners, and link to other innovation and active ageing platforms. It is free and open to join, and may be of interest to NHS bodies which are not in a position to become involved in the Partnership, but wish to be kept up to date with its activities. See here for more information.
The Partnership in particular aims to
- increase the healthy lifespan of EU citizens by 2 years by 2020
- improve the health and quality of life of older people
- enhance the sustainability and efficiency of care systems
- create growth and market opportunities for businesses
The Partnership has three key areas:
- prevention, screening and early diagnosis
- care and cure
- active ageing and independent living.
The European Commission, in discussion with stakeholders, has identified a number of actions within each of the key areas and these are now in the process of being developed and implemented. These actions aim to find innovative solutions to:
- personalized health management, including fall prevention by elderly people
- health literacy, patient empowerment and adherence to treatment programmes
- the prevention and early diagnosis of functional decline
- integrated care systems, particularly for chronic diseases
- promote active and independent living amongst the elderly
It is worth noting that the Partnership is a new initiative and is not a traditional form of EU funding. As such, no new funding will be available in the short-term to help organisations implement the actions. The focus of this Partnership is on linking together organisations, resources and expertise to produce short-term, demonstrable results which can encourage the uptake of innovation.
Conference of Partners: presentations available
The first annual Conference of Partners of the EIP-AHA took place in November, discussing how to implement and scale up innovations for active ageing.
Six Action Groups presented Action Plans which tackle a specific challenge in this field from falls, which account for almost one third of fatal injuries amongst older people, to tele-monitoring, which enables chronically ill patients to live longer at home.
You can access the presentations here.
EU Conference on the Innovation Partnership: held in Brussels on 3 April 2012
An event was organised by the European Commission to bring stakeholders together to discuss how they can turn their ideas into actions. For further information, see here.
Presentations from a workshop held in London in March 2012 to promote engagement in the Partnership, are also available.
