Digital Health Technology for Better Aging. A multidisciplinary approach

This book describes the multidisciplinary approach needed to tackle better aging. Aging populations are one of the 21st century’s biggest challenges. National health systems are forced to adapt in order to provide adequate and affordable care. Innovation, driven by digital technology, is a key to improving quality of life and encouraging healthy living. Well-designed technology keeps people empowered, independent, and mobile; however, despite widespread adoption of ICT in day-to-day life, digital health technologies have yet to catch on. To this end, technology needs to be effective, usable, cheap, and designed to ensure the security of the managed data. In the era of mHealth, mobile technology, and social design, this book describes, in six sections, the collaboration of polytechnic know-how and social science and health sectors in the creation of a system for encouraging people to engage in healthy behavior and achieve a better quality of life

Conclusions

Based on the lessons learnt from the co-design, development and integration processes, the research findings and the outputs from the engagement with a network of stakeholders over the course of the EU funded initiatives, this chapter is providing a set of reflections about the future directions of the Active and Healthy Ageing challenge. From the demographic perspective, to research considerations and data management directions we have tried to identify some keywords aim to help sketching the future policies and research directions for ageing well in Europe

Older Persons in Europe 2020: Needs and Challenges for an Interdisciplinary Polytechnic Approach

Ageing population is a fact in the European countries. How to improve the quality of life and sustain healthy ageing is one of the big challenges that deserve to be addressed considering the several and different aspects of life. But a person is a complex system and the last decades’ approach demonstrated that, even if general or cluster medicine reached good results, the new barriers to overcome are ad hoc solutions, tailored to the single to improve wellbeing and preserve decline. The Personalised Medicine call, SC1-PM-15-2017 Personalised coaching for well-being and care of people as they age, under the Horizon 2020 program, aims at developing and validating new ICT based approaches for empowering and motivating people. This section will introduce the reader to the European scenario, the challenge and the research and innovation action promoted under personalised medicine and the specific call