Bridging Health and Social Care with the Citizens – The Case of EIT Health Project “Healiqs4cities” and “Praça Vida+”, in Portugal

Abstract

The global burden of population ageing imposes the need of innovative care models and good practices to ensure the sustainability of health and social care support, as well as optimal quality of life of the citizens. Science and technology-based innovation is required to be cross-fertilized with co-creation strategies, involving different stakeholders and the citizens. Health literacy is a crucial component of this challenge, including instruments focused on better training of formal and informal caregivers and citizen’s empowerment towards healthy lifestyles. In the present paper, we highlight the implementation of two EIT Health projects, Healiqs4cities and CARE Campus, and one event, Praça Vida+, as good examples of the interdisciplinary approach to develop innovative good practices, science outreach and innovative ICT-based training schemes for care providers. Moreover, we identify the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing Reference Sites and the Reference Site Collaborative Network as quadruple helix-based ecosystems ideally positioned to inspire other European regions and their decision makers for large adoption of innovative practices and change management across Europe.