Teleassistance and future ageing

How to cope with ageing societies is one of the grand challenges pointed out in the Lund Declaration. The rapidly growing population of elders confronts Europe with a double demographic challenge. The ageing population’s need for healthcare services increases at the same time as the access to workforce declines. Given the services as they are today, the needs for care in the population will at some point surpass the available workforce. Healthcare technologies can be increasingly important for the society to be able to offer health and care services at a quantity and quality that mirrors the expectations of the European populations. So, How can we best use new technology in health care services, what challenges do new technology create and what type of policy options are policy makers faced with?

In 2014 PACITA put into practice a cross-European stakeholder involvement and provided both the national and the EU level with substantial input for meeting the societal and technological challenges and opportunities of an ageing population.