Agder again awarded Reference Site status
Agder is once again a role model of active and healthy ageing. “This is a European recognition of the work we do”, says Ragni Mac Queen Leifson at the Centre for eHealth.
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Life expectancy in Europe increases. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that older people have more healthy active lives and maintain their independence.
The European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) aims to mobilise resources, expertise and experience to create innovative solutions to promote active and healthy ageing. One of the ways this is done is to appoint reference sites with from one to four stars. Agder is one of two regions in Norway with such status. The other is Stavanger.
See the video with Wenche P. Dehli, director of health and social care in Kristiansand.
FACTS/EIP on AHA
- The European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) is an initiative launched by the European Commission to foster innovation and digital transformation in the field of active and healthy ageing.
- The partnership can help strengthen EU research and innovation. Its overarching target is to increase the average healthy lifespan of EU citizens by 2 years by the year 2020.
- 77 organisations were awarded Reference Site status in the 2019 Call for Reference Sites.
Continued Reference Site status
Ragni Mac Queen Leifson, administrative leader of the Centre for eHealth at the University of Agder.
Agder became a three-star Reference Site in 2016, a recognition that the region has come far within welfare technology. At the call in 2019 the status was continued.
“This gives us European recognition of the work we do in eHealth in Agder. It provides us with an opportunity to cooperate with other regions in Europe. We can learn from others and share our experiences”, says Ragni Mac Queen Leifson, administrative leader at the Centre for eHealth.
The centre is the Agder region’s coordinating partner in the informal network and one of the priority research centres at the university. The centre’s ambition is to become best in eHealth in Europe.
Stimulating innovation
EIP on AHA has appointed 77 Reference Sites across Europe. For the university the European cooperation has already led to more applications to Horizon 2020, the EU framework programme for research and innovation, and a cooperation agreement with the University of Strathclyde on the development of future health services.
“A cooperation like this stimulates innovation and creative thinking where the goal is active and healthy ageing for as many people as possible”, Leifson says.
Centre for eHealth cooperates with EIP on AHA working with the municipalities in Agder through the Regional Coordination Group for eHealth among other things. Other cooperation partners are the Hospital of Southern Norway, Agder county, Digin and South Norway European Office.