The future of elderly care faces significant challenges. To meet the increasing needs with available resources and personnel, more support is required at home.
The vision of the ACE project (Accelerating the Homecare Innovation Ecosystem of the Future in the North Sea Region) is a future where individuals can live safely and independently by increasing the use of digital solutions and new working methods, for better future elderly care services across the entire North Sea region.
It's about creating an ecosystem of both digital and other services around the individual in their living environment. Needs-driven solutions that can contribute to support safe and independent living at home. New and existing solutions need to become reality and be put into use, and the goal is to gather stakeholders and knowledge to accelerate development.
The ACE project will actively prepare caregivers, seniors, and relatives for future digital solutions and new working methods. During the project implementation, a digital platform with hundreds of stakeholders will be developed, there will be a matching of care needs with the most accurate solutions and technology, and then about thirty solutions will be tested in seniors' homes. Solutions aimed at meeting the needs of seniors receiving care, relatives, and care staff. To make significant progress, the key to success is collaboration among stakeholders from the public sector, academia, civil society, and the business sector.
At Vitalis, the results of the first 1.5 years of the project will be presented, including:
- A summary of the needs assessment for future care, conducted in all six countries in 2023.
- Status and plans for the showrooms that will be set up in all six countries during the year, where visitors will get a glimpse of what the future care for the elderly might look like.
- Planning for the matching and testing process that will commence in 2024. Needs will be matched with appropriate solutions/products/technology, and then tested in seniors' homes in all six countries.