Creating a vision of care in times of digitization
This policy paper is a product of the fast track project Ageing and technologies: Creating a vision of care in times of digitization. It provides a synthesis of the main results of the project.
Summary and overall aim
This project investigated the use of technological innovations in the area of ageing and care across a range of European countries. It aimed to begin with the needs of older people, rather than with the technology. To achieve this, it defined a vision of what good care for older people (embracing both social and health care) would look like, before considering what digital technologies might (or might not) contribute to achieving this.
The overall vision is of good care as the range of services which enable older people and their carers to maintain good later life as they understand it, recognising the great diversity of older people. As a framework for analysing the relevance of the technologies, we took the rights defined in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, which apply as much to those in need of care as to the rest of the population.