The Department of Health has made £22 million available to 21 pioneering research projects to boost dementia diagnosis rates and trial ground-breaking treatments. The funding was awarded by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and was designed to cover all areas of scientific activity relevant to dementia, across the fields of care, cure and cause, including prevention.
More information on the projects awarded funding is available, here.
The objective of AAL is to facilitate the goal of "ageing well at home" through the use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT). The idea of universAAL project (a project partially funded under the 7th research Framework Programme) is to create an open platform for provision of AAL services, solving this problem. The webinar organised on 24 May 2013 in Salamanca, Spain aims to introduce universAAL platform to end-users and related stakeholders and show them how to envision a near future involved with open and affordable AAL solutions.
After this webinar, participants will know the possibilities and advantages of living in an AAL environment involving all needed stakeholders, from assisted persons to assistance providers and authorities around the open and "universal" AAL future platform.
More information is available, here.
The purpose of this consultation is to validate the Scenario Exercise undertaken within the VALUE AGEING project , a 4 year Marie Curie IAPP Action project funded by the European Commission's FP7 programme, and its relevance and effectiveness to demonstrate scenario design and planning as a tool for improved ethical technology development for the ageing.
More information is available, here.
The annual conference of the Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme (AALJP), the AAL Forum will take place in Norrkoping, Sweden between 24 and 26 September 2013. The event is entitled “Impacting individuals, society and economic growth” and its goal is twofold: on the one hand the conference will showcase the significant progresses made by the AAL JP projects and solutions in the exhibition area with various demos and presentations, whereas the discussion in the sessions and in the plenaries will address two important questions:
For more information, please visit the conferences website.
The European Association for Directors and Providers of Long-Term Care Services for the Elderly (E.D.E.) will celebrate on 26-28 September 2013 a congress in Tallinn (Estonia), to address the use of new technologies in long-term care, to streamline the work of caregivers, making customers' lives more independent, comfortable and safe. Some of the topics to be adressed in Tallinn are:
For more information, please visit the conference's website.
The 2nd International Conference on Age-Friendly Cities will be held on September 9 to 11, 2013, in Quebec City under the theme “Living and Ageing Together in our Community.”
This major gathering welcomes every person that is concerned by ageing of populations, whether from municipal administration, the health, social, and community services sector, urban planning and transport, the research milieu, or any of the governmental various levels.
All conference content and activities will be organised around four thematic tracks.
The conference is organized by the Ministry of Health and Social Services of Quebec and co-sponsored by the World Health Organization Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities.
For more information, please visit the conference's website.
Dg SANCO is hosting the Conference on "Adherence to treatment, a public concern at EU level", which will be held in Brussels at THON HOTEL EU, Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 75B-1040 Brussels, on 11 June, from 9:30 until 17:00.
The main objective of this event is to carry-out preparatory work to shape EU policy on this issue as well as to identify common approaches, help formulate strategies that address the complex nature of adherence.
The outcomes of the Conference will also contribute to provide the worldwide debate with a single perspective coming from Europe.
The Conference Programme foresees key speakers setting the policy scene, followed by a plenary session to address specific topics.
Four parallel workshops will then allow participants to engage in a more in-depth discussion on some specific dimensions of adherence: patients' empowerment, information to support prescription, adherence in different diseases and situations and pharmacological treatment.
The participation to the Conference is by invitation only, but there are still some places available. If you believe you can contribute to the achievement of the Conferences' aims please contact Isabelle Dévé at isabelle.deve@ec.europa.eu and we will send you an invitation.
The EU Summit on Active and Healthy Ageing: An Action Agenda for European Cities and Communities will take place on 13-14 June 2013 at Dublin’s Ballsbridge Hotel in Ireland.
Participation at the Summit is by invitation only and limited to 200 of the most influential European and global leaders on this topic. The Summit is attracting a strong mix of key decision makers - senior leaders from key national government departments, the EU Commission, cities and municipalities already participating in the Age Friendly Cities programme and those planning to do so, as well as leaders from leading businesses and pan EU bodies.
This two-day summit is being organised in association with the Irish Presidency and in partnership with the Global Coalition on Ageing (www.globalcoalitiononaging.com) with the active engagement of the WHO’s Age Friendly Cities and Healthy Cities Programmes.
The goals of the conference are to develop Europe wide leadership support to:
For more information, please visit the conference's website.
Held by the IAGG (International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics) and the International Congress Organizing Committee once every four years, the World Congress of the IAGG is the world’s largest international congress. Here, leading gerontologists, geriatrics scholars, policy decision-makers, professional activists, related companies, and researchers get together and share recent discoveries and study results.
This congress is expected to promote Korea’s international academic position in research to improve the rights, health, and quality of life of older people. An added benefit is that it could help attract tourists to Korea and help allow them to experience Korea’s dynamic society.
The 20th IAGG World Congress has been arranged to be held in the Seoul Coex Convention Center from June 23rd - 27th, 2013.
For more information, please visit the conference's website.
The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) will organise on 26-28 August 2013 the international symposium "Work, Wellbeing and Wealth: Active Ageing at Work.”
The vision of "an active life while ageing" is becoming one of the major social challenges in Europe. The European Union has launched the Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) ”More Years, Better Lives – the Potential and Challenges of Demographic Change" in order to make a full impact assessment and development of appropriate answers to the upcoming demographic challenges. Among its five focus areas a research agenda on "Work and Productivity" is under preparation.
The aim of the international conference is to bring together researchers, experts and European networks in the area and to present and discuss the major research & development needs and solutions.
For more information, please visit the conference's website.
UN Member States are meeting in the Open Ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWG) to consider proposals for new human rights instruments to protect the rights of older people globally. While UN conventions are agreed by governments, support cannot be built without the backing and advocacy of older people. Civil society plays a key role in making this happen and in holding governments to account for the decisions they make.
That is the reason why the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People requests call for peopl'es contributionto produce a “Statement of Principles” that will unite older people’s voices and tell governments what civil society wants a new human rights instrument to deliver.
If you wish you can participate in the consultation survey available online as an individual or as an organization until15 June 2013, using the link, here.
For more information you may contact Nena Georgantzi, Legal & Research Officer at nena.georgantzi@age-platform.eu
On 24 April 2013, Eurochild and AGE Platform Europe organised a round table debate on "Grandparents as carers - Trends and support services in Europe", preceding the European Day of Solidarity between Generations.
This event launched the results and policy recommendations of an on-line survey conducted by Eurochild in 2012 on the contribution of grandparents to families across Europe.The study gives an overview of family policies with relevance to grandparents across EU countries and identifies key policies that recognise grandparent care and support, and which strengthen the extended families from children’s perspective.
The Eurochild report, speakers’ presentations and background documents are available, here.
On 30 May 2013, Seniors Entrepreneurs is co-organising a conference in Brussels on “Senior Entrepreneurs and Youth Employment” with the European Union and Age Platform Europe.
On the topic of "Youth Employment: A Challenge for the Regions and Local Authorities", four local or regional collectives will comment on their employment problems and the measures they have implemented or intend to implement to meet the employment rate of young and / or active seniors in their area. During the afternoon session, the "Senior Entrepreneurs" concept will be presented and the theme of "The Creators Seniors Business, an Opportunity for Youth Employment" will be commented on by a panel of European speakers.
The event will be opened by the Chairman of the Committee of the Regions or his representative and will be brought to a close with a final discussion with the audience led by the moderator and conclusions given by AGE Platform Europe.
For more information and registration to the conference, please click here.
The International Senior Dance Congress 2013 will be held in Tampere, from May 27thto June 1st. Similar conferences are held in different European countries every three years since 1987.
In this edition there will be 14 countries participating, each one with a delegation of about 16 seniors, dance instructors and counsellors. Participants are mostly senior-aged professionals, who will present their creations and study their peers’ dances during the Congress in Finland, after which they will spread their learnings in their respective countries.
Among other activities, there will be specific workshops focused on "Sitting Dance, Dances near the Chair or with a walker/rollator" and "Balance training".
Senior dance is a form of exercise which can be done without a partner and is considered an important source of strength, friendship and multiculturalism for old people.
Paavo Arhinmäki, the Finnish Minister for Culture and Sports, is the patron of the Congress, organised this year by the Finnish Association of International Senior Dance, the Seniordansförbund and the Age Institute.
Participating countries are Belgium, Brazil, Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Latvia, Luxembourg, Norway, France, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Switzerland and Denmark.
Adult Learners’ Week will be held from 18 – 24 May 2013 across all regions in England.
Adult Learners’ Week is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of lifelong learning, from adults interested in improving their current job prospects to seniors who just want to learn for fun and organisation looking to help support adults with lifelong learning,
The celebration, which is held since 2009, aims to be an opportunity to explore the many types of learning available to adults from all walks of life. Through thousands of events and awards ceremonies, Adult Learners’ Week:
For more informaion on the Adult's Learners week, please visit the website here.
Pension funds are a very important and fundamental choice in the life of a consumer. Currently there are no specific EU rules for such products which may take on various legal forms ranging from "life insurances" to "investment products". This results in legal fragmentation which does not allow the consumer to be protected in a consistent way in all EU countries.
Therefore, the European Commission launched a public consultation on third pillar retirement products (individual pension plans). The consultation focusses on consumer protection, more specifically on the pre- and post-contractual information given to consumers as well as the selling practices covering marketing, inducements and advice given in the sector.
The consultation is open to all stakeholders and will be available in all EU languages. It will run for 12 weeks until 19 July 2013.
The results of the consultation will be taken into account for the preparation of possible future initiatives in this field.
Link to the consultation, here.
On 24 April 2013, preceding the European Day of Solidarity between Generations (29 April), Eurochild and AGE Platform Europe organised a round table debate on "Grandparents as carers - Trends and support services in Europe". The event in the European Parliament was hosted by Austrian MEP K. Heinz Becker.
As part of its contribution to the work carried by the EY2012 NGOs Coalition, Eurochild conducted in 2012 an on-line survey on the contribution of grandparents to families across Europe. A wide range of NGOs got involved in producing this scoping study.
The study gives an overview of family policies with relevance to grandparents across EU countries and identifies key policies that recognise grandparent care and support, and which strengthen the extended families from children’s perspective.
The report also profiles what Eurochild's members and partners are doing in relation to support grandparents, and gather some useful evidence on the services offered to them.
Please, click here to read the report online.
Hosted by Dublin, this two day summit will focus on how European cities and communities can prepare themselves to address the opportunities and challenges posed by the rapid ageing of our populations and how we can improve the quality of life of our older people.
The event is organised by Ageing Well Network in partnership with the Global Coalition on Ageing and with the active engagement of the WHO’s Age Friendly Cities and Healthy Cities Programmes and is an associated event of the Irish Presidency of the Council for the European Union.
A key feature of this summit is the signing of the Dublin Declaration 2013 on Age Friendly Cities and Communities by mayors from across Europe. This Declaration builds on the original 2011 Declaration, with a specific European framework linked to key developments within the EU. A call for EU Mayors to participate and sign the Dublin Declaration 2013 has been issued.
The Dublin Declaration on Age Friendly Cities and Communities 2013 ceremony takes place on the evening of Thursday 13 June in the Kings Inn, Dublin.
For more information, please click here.
DG SANCO published the 2012 report about the impact of chronic disease on the population of pre -(50+) and post -retirement age in the EU.
This report was prepared by EuroHealthNet's member - The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and addresses the following topics:
The report is available, here.
Specific dimensions of frailty in old age such as functional and cognitive decline, screening and effective interventions, and risk factors such as malnutrition will be discussed at a conference in Brussels today opened by Tonio Borg, Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy. The key objectives are to initiate a policy debate on frailty guidelines, showcase the commitments being implemented in the frailty action group and discuss the latest evidence on frailty that can feed into the work of the action group.
The policy implications of preventing frailty, understanding and tackling frailty and key ideas for EU action will be discussed during the plenary sessions. Key-note speakers include policy makers and international experts in ageing and frailty in older people. Four specific workshops will address 1) risk conditions, early diagnosis and prevention, 2) malnutrition and frailty, 3) functional and cognitive decline, and 4) the impact of frailty on health and social services.
The conference is organised in the context of the Commission's Innovation Partnership on Active & Healthy Ageing. The partnership, with its headline target of 2 more healthy life years by 2020' has three overarching goals: to improve the health and quality of life of older people; to support the sustainability of health systems, and to boost EU industry competitiveness. The Partnership's strategic implementation plan identifies prevention of functional decline and frailty as a concrete action under the prevention, screening and early diagnosis pillar. The other two pillars are care and cure as well as active ageing and independent living.
Please note that participation to the Conference is by invitation only. Nonetheless, if you are working on that field and you believe you can contribute to the achievement of the Conferences' aims please, contact Anna Carta at anna.carta@ec.europa.eu.
To learn more about the content of the conference, please click here.
Eye tests can be useful for getting more up-to-date prescriptions for glasses. Plus they can reveal if there are any other health problems someone may need to be aware of.
