1st local stakeholder meeting organised in Hauts-de-France
On Tuesday, July 11th, the first meeting in the Hauts-de-France region took place within a select committee, involving stakeholders in promoting successful ageing, as part of the European project known as NOTRE.
As a reminder, the Hauts-de-France Region and Eurasanté have joined forces for this project, which seeks to bolster the enhancement of regional policies related to the developement of new products in favor of healthy ageing. The project also entails the establishment of test infrastructures to validate and assess the viability of these products.
To successfully execute this project, it is essential to comprehend the challenges faced by startups, actors of assistance, local authorities, researchers, etc. Furthermore, determining how public policies could be better aligned with these needs is crucial as well.
Among the difficulties mentioned by the participants, we can cite the access to the elderly people targeted, for project leaders and startups to test its innovation. Indeed, the structures welcoming the public (nursing homes, retirement homes, etc.) or home care services suffer from lack of human resources, and thus a lack of time to engage in experiments. How to mobilize professionals in a tense environment and moreover without dedicated funding? In addition to this, professionals often tend to protect vulnerable elderly people and are therefore reluctant to open the doors of their establishment. The family can also be a drag: protection of the parent, fear of technology, or even fear of change. Finally, the aid granted to project promoters (companies not created) was also mentioned. These are often intended for the purchase of a service or a global purchase, whereas project promoters generally need to use this allocation over time depending on the development of their product.
Several ideas were proposed to address these challenges. These include raising awareness among establishments to collaborate with companies, establishing a dedicated budget for experimentation within establishments to facilitate partnerships during testing phases, creating a voluntary panel of elderly individuals, and establishing a support hub that consolidates various solutions (brands, costs) available in the market, tailored to specific senior-related issues.
The next meeting will be held in the second half of 2023 and will bring together more participants in order to continue these discussions. The overarching goal is for the Region to develop a policy instrument supporting innovation in favor of seniors.