Brief description of the opportunity

The idea is to support the integrated development of tools/apps for data analytics that support a healthy and active lifestyle and promote the development of globally competitive products for improved nutrition for healthy ageing. Opportunities can integrate developments in various growing sectors – see table below.

A structured form of advice supported by empirical, scientific and/or experimental evidence could help unleash opportunities for the Silver Economy. A hub of reliable and trusted knowledge is a much needed tool. The hub can be used to increase knowledge about the importance of nutrition, health and dental care, exercise, etc with the aim to improve stamina, concentration, memory, sleeping patterns, gut health, etc. and offer support for healthier and active lifestyle overall. It would be possible to offer personalized lifestyle advice including healthy dietary intake. It could integrate individual's data, drawing from wearable technologies. Older people can be empowered to monitor their health status and data collected can be used in health checks. Wearable technology clearly has huge potential for older people, from a prevention and wellbeing perspective, but without fixes to the current problems of interoperability and security, these kinds of products are going to be slow to diffuse among older generations.

Table 1  Overview of related sectors

Barriers and market failures

The lack of interoperability of different technologies hinders the uptake of healthy aging solutions. Sustainable and usable solutions for active and healthy ageing include convergence of several technologies such as the cloud market and communication tools.[1] Setting standards and reducing the complexity and the fragmentation of the market helps in enabling different approaches to converge. This for example enables the organisation of tools in a central hub.

The lack of recognition for ICT solutions in Health Care Systems. For example, Adapted Physical Activity is not always recognised. The required re-organisation of care is not sufficiently taking place. The current risk-averse procurement strategies hinder the uptake of more innovative and efficient solutions.

Currently, there is a lack of scale in active and healthy ageing solutions. Implementations only take place on a small scale and are scattered across different regions and municipalities. The lack of scale intertwines with a lack of capacity and knowledge on how to develop these solutions on a larger scale and results in a few evidenced benefits, no ecosystem of well-aligned stakeholders and the limited availability of solutions.

[1] Report EU summit on Innovation for Active and Healthy Ageing, 2015.

Market prospects – size, growth trends and scalability

In the upcoming years, life expectancy is predicted to increase. In 2030, it is expected that life expectancy in the EU27 will be 85.3 years for women and 80 years for men.  It is therefore predicted that in 2025, 42.9% of the EU28 population will be aged 50 years and older. The rise in average age can be illustrated with the proportion of women that will be aged 65+, which was 19% in 2008 and will be 26% in 2030 (data from Eurostat). The challenge for Europe is to ensure healthy ageing. While currently 4 people are working for every retired person, in 2025 this number will have dropped to 3 and in 2050 only 2 people will be working for every retired person. Keeping people healthy is important, in order for them to contribute to the economy as long as possible.

Healthy ageing solutions do not necessarily only have to be available for the 50+. A large part of healthy ageing is prevention, supporting people to stay healthy and involved in monitoring their own health. Another part of healthy ageing is treatment, where in the case of older people needing medical assistance, technology could enable the accessibility to innovative solutions for supporting and complementing health improvements.

Active and Healthy Ageing solutions therefore need to be offered to all age groups but are particularly important for the older adults. While it is important to start living healthy at birth, it is shown that changes in lifestyle, even in later years, can bring health benefits (see the Irish National Positive Ageing Strategy). Furthermore, active and healthy ageing solutions can also play a role in the treatment of diseases. The market for active and healthy ageing is therefore expected to be sizable and growing. Currently, only 47.5% of the people between 50 and 74 years is active compared to 68% of the people aged 25 to 74.2 This shows there is room for improvement.  

Finally, it appears that users of (private) home automation products are mostly higher-educated people that are able to afford these products and that are aware of the importance of healthy living. More difficult is reaching lower-income citizens that could also benefit from these technologies. Games might be a way to achieve this.

Challenges - identified need for action

In order to develop innovative services in the domain of Active and Healthy Ageing, several challenges need to be overcome. In the past the recent years, various pilots and prototype systems has taken place and there has been some evidence showing real benefits in relation to the implementation of these innovations. Nevertheless, many of these types of innovations have failed to reach the wider consumer base. 

One of the main challenges is the fact that many active and healthy ageing solutions are currently of a local or regional nature. These efforts by themselves do not result in scalable and competitive EU markets for industry. This hinders the possibilities of economic growth and the creation of new jobs that could come with the larger scale implementation of these technologies.

The lack of scale intertwines with the refusal of several important organisations and care professionals to uptake innovation in the active and healthy ageing domain, even though pilots have evidenced the benefit of these solutions. Also, several national and regional authorities have not yet committed themselves to the deployment of these innovations. The European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing has made progress in this respect, with bringing together over 3,000 stakeholders that have committed themselves to the scale up of innovation in active and healthy ageing.

Added value of EU action

The current market size of active and healthy aging innovations is small, even though pilots show promising results. The wider up-take of innovations could be actively promoted by the EC, through several policy actions, such as the provision of systematic support to active and healthy ageing innovations - for example through innovative procurement in EC funding programmes - and by offering risk-sharing opportunities to procurers. Furthermore, jointly with national initiatives, the EC could help raise awareness about the importance of active and healthy ageing and could facilitate the building of new and sustainable networks.

The added value of EU wide actions that stimulate the take-up of active and healthy ageing innovations will result in the building of knowledge and capacity, the increased quality of care and improved health status of citizens, more effective care systems and economies of scale for ICT solutions., contributing to jobs and growth across the economy.

Existing or planned initiatives to build on

The are several examples of existing policy initiatives in Europe that focus on Active and Healthy Ageing. The Irish National Positive Ageing Strategy, published in 2013, has the goal to “support people as they age to maintain, improve or manage their physical and mental health and wellbeing” and focuses Healthy Ageing, for example by pointing out several (unhealthy) lifestyle factors that influence chronic diseases. The strategy recognises that technologies can offer new ways to support people to live longer, independently at home and benefit prevention and self-care. Based on the strategy, a Healthy and Positive Ageing Initiative (HaPaAI) was developed that monitors changes in health and wellbeing of older people, linked to the goals and objectives of the strategy.

Another initiative is the German Strategy on Active and Healthy Ageing that was implemented in 2012 and is coordinated by the Federal Centre for Health Education. The aim of the strategy is to connect governmental, non-governmental, academic and private stakeholders on several key topics. These topics are physical activity, healthy diet, mental health, substance abuse, dissemination of knowledge on diseases and integration and participation. The strategy should enable the support of an active and autonomous healthy lifestyle and prolong the need for care.

The Swedish National Research Agenda “an ageing population”, also focuses on the three priority areas health, nutrition and housing. The agenda highlights a role for welfare technologies in order to take preventive actions and to bring tailored solutions to older adults.

There are also initiatives that try to introduce ICT in people’s homes in order to enable Active and Healthy Ageing, mainly focusing on prevention. In France, the Get Physical web platform (GetPhy) was started by the non-profit organisation Siel Bleu that offers solutions for prevention and support of older people through Adapted Physical Activity (APA) programmes. GetPhy is an innovative web platform that promotes APA and focuses on prevention. The platform brings older adults at home in contact with people from the sports world and helps them getting a better view of what APA programmes are available in their area. Users of GetPhy can assess their own physical condition, access a range of adapted recommendations and exercises to do at home in complete safety. Furthermore, GetPhy encourages people to strengthen their social ties since users have the possibility to set up communities with others to talk about their experiences and organise group sessions or sporting events (e.g. walking groups). The goal of the platform is to create an ecosystem of professionals and users in order to promote an active lifestyle among older people at home.

In the Netherlands, a regional initiative was started called the Healthy Ageing Network in order to develop a portable sensor-system that provides users with information about their lifestyle via smartwatch or smartphone. The use also receives notifications with suggestions on how to improve their lifestyle. The system is connected to a database, in order to enable large scale research into lifestyles in relation to health and vitality. The final goal of the project is to stimulate high-end innovation of companies. Furthermore, the project should help prevention and reduce expenditures on care. It is executed in collaboration with businesses, the University of Applied Sciences in Groningen, the University Medical Centre Groningen and the General Health Service of the Netherlands.

Other EU-initiatives that focus on treatment are: REMPARK, a monitoring device for Parkinson’s Disease patients that allows for real-time monitoring of patients, which benefits disease management; RGS, a virtual reality-based training system that enables patients to rehabilitate after a stroke; DOMEO, a domestic robot that assists older adults live at home for a longer period of time, in particular people that suffer cognitive decline; and SILVER, a pre-commercial procurement scheme that stimulates innovation in robotics that supports older people with independent living.

Recommended EU policy actions

A major possible point of influence for policy makers is the upscaling of initiatives across Europe, for example by promoting APA programmes and the introduction of ICT tools in healthcare systems. It is important that proven innovation practices are spread across European regions, something the EC can facilitate with actions such as raising awareness about the benefits of solutions in the active and healthy ageing domain. Essential to this is the development of partnerships and ecosystems that are transnational. In response to the activities by the European Innovation Partnership for Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP-AHA), a first step is being taken towards developing a European scaling-up strategy for the Active and Healthy Ageing Domain by DG SANCO and CNECT.

A possible way to reach this, is by seeking synergies with other domains such as Smart Cities, to ensure fragmentation of the market is limited and open platforms are developed that support multiple applications, with low cost and with the opportunity for economies of scale.

Furthermore, the link between producers and suppliers1 across Europe can be improved. The EU could play a role in co-engaging stakeholders, for example by developing a closer relation with health insurance companies. This could benefit the supply-demand chain. A co-design approach in the early stages of research and development could also be promoted, in order to stimulate synergy between technologies.

Finally, risk-taking and innovation can be stimulated by EU instruments. Via EU member states, it is possible to raise a sense of urgency, ensuring the quick development and uptake of new innovations.

Key stakeholders

Development of technology in the healthcare sector is fast, large players such as Google, Nest and Samsung are heavily investing in home automation products, which makes it difficult to predict how the technologies will develop and who will be involved. In general, it can be expected that key stakeholders will be technology providers, technology suppliers and organisations in the healthcare sector. For example, health insurance companies might also be interested to connect with several healthy and active aging applications and health care providers might enjoy benefits from integrating these technologies in their working environment.