Drafting policy recommendations for active and healthy ageing
IN-4-AHA’s focus is on the development of a scale-up model for innovation in the field of active and healthy ageing, but aside from that the consortium also works on drafting policy recommendations to help facilitate the right environment and market conditions for active and healthy ageing solutions to be scaled up and implemented effectively throughout Europe. EUREGHA, the reference network for European regional and local health authorities and leader of work package 7 is responsible for the development of these policy recommendations, supported by inputs and feedback from the other work packages.
After exploratory, semi-structured interviews with work packages 2 through 6, a first and second draft were developed based on the information collected. To allow for a more dynamic and fruitful exchange of thoughts, EUREGHA hosted an internal workshop for consortium partners at their office in Brussels on 20 June. Director Michele Calabro’ guided the partners through 7 draft recommendations, covering issues such as early-stage funding mechanisms, health data challenges, digital skills, community building, and more.
The third draft of the policy recommendations will be sent to partners for feedback by the end of July, and a fourth draft by mid-September. The goal is to finalize IN-4-AHA’s policy recommendations for the active and healthy ageing field by mid-October.
It was a pleasure to be able to organize this meeting in a hybrid format to ensure maximum participation from the partners, even from those unable to travel to Brussels, and to brainstorm together about how to overcome challenges to upscaling innovative solutions for active and healthy ageing.
Building the European Active and Healthy Living Coalition
Speaking of the relevance of building a European AHA community, which will also be reflected in the policy recommendations, there is an interesting initiative in the works to connect quadruple helix stakeholders active in the AHA field from all over Europe through formation of a European Coalition for Active and Healthy Living (acronym: EURAHL). Leading partners are University of Porto and EUREGHA, who have invited all IN-4-AHA partners and external stakeholders such as the Reference Site Collaborative Network, ECHAlliance, EHTEL, Estonian Connected Health Cluster, More Years – Better Lives, and a few others to work on this initiative together.
Many of the meetings have been online but coalition partners had a finally enjoyed the first opportunity to work together in person during a meeting on the 21st of June, where the Terms of Reference were finalized and accepted by all. Next steps are to conduct a gap analysis, draft a communication plan, and show our presence online and at events, so you will likely see more of the EURAHL coalition soon!
