Description (short summary):
There have been numerous experiments and smaller scale pilot projects developing and testing independent living, telecare and telehealth solutions. A challenge is however still to strengthen measurement of the anticipated improved quality of life for the users and socio-economic benefits for the care systems in a scientifically acceptable way. Solid evidence on common indicators and statistically significant impact measurement methodologies are essential to convince policy makers and industry to invest further in wide deployment and uptake of solutions.

The scale and frequency of trials is now increasing due to the large interest in the ageing well domain. There is thus a strong need to align even more the individual projects' approaches, to set up mechanisms for best practice exchange on indicators and methodologies employed in order to advance comprehensiveness and ensure comparability of evidence collected to be used for meaningful policy and investment decisions.

The purpose of the explanatory workshop has been therefore to bring together relevant representatives of ongoing or planned major trials in this field, who shared knowledge and contributed with practical experience with a view to defining good practice and recommendations for the future. A major contribution came from participants in the pilot projects for ageing well launched under the European Commission's Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) ICT Policy Support Programme.

In terms of outcomes, an initial set of possible common indicators stemming from the ongoing projects and pilots work was analysed; ground-rules for constructing statistically significant impact measurement methodologies in this field were discussed and initial recommendations and guidelines for comparable future impact measurements arose from an interactive brainstorming and discussion amongst the participants.

The results are to be further taken up by a follow-up work in a form of a repository of existing relevant documents to serve as background for further discussions and intensified and structured best practice exchange. The purpose is to develop a common framework for arriving at solid and comparable evidence to facilitate policy decisions and further investment for wide deployment and uptake of solutions.

Overall the exchange confirmed the relevance of the topic - detailed results of the workshop have been captured in this report, to be published and widely disseminated as part of the European Commissions' ICT for Ageing Well action plan.

Number of pages: 20

Related ePractice community: Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of ICT for Ageing Well Solutions