Le projet Older People's e-services at home (OLDES), lancé récemment par l'Union européenne, doit permettre de développer une plate-forme technologique conviviale et prête à l'emploi pour la téléassistance et la télécompagnie qui serait commercialisée au prix modique de 100 euros par personne. Grâce à ce système duel, l'utilisateur pourra accéder à des services de divertissement via des canaux thématiques faciles d'accès et des forums d'intérêts spéciaux avec animateurs. Les établissements de santé se baseront pour leur part sur des normes établies de communication internet et de télétriage.

La plate-forme intégrera la technologie sans fil avec la mise en place de capteurs environnementaux et médicaux. Ceux-ci seront directement reliés via un centre de contact à des services sociaux et à des prestataires de soins de santé de façon à déclencher une alarme lorsque, par exemple, la température atteint des valeurs dangereusement élevées en été.

« OLDES accorde aux personnes âgées une position centrale et pose leurs besoins en priorité première de tous les développements. À cet effet, des outils de modélisation et d'animation seront utilisés dans le but de développer des scénarios capables de susciter des réponses chez les personnes âgées, les personnes qui en ont la charge et les prestataires de services », a expliqué M. Massimo Busuoli, le coordinateur de projet de l'agence nationale italienne pour les nouvelles technologies, l'énergie et l'environnement (ENEA).

« Grâce à l'animation et à la simulation, nous serons en mesure de garantir que les développements reposent, à tous les stades, sur les réalités du secteur social et de la santé, les cultures et les économies des contextes pilotes spécifiques et un éventail aussi large que possible d'autres contextes de services publics européens », a-t-il ajouté. Une fois au point, le système sera testé sur deux sites différents : en Italie avec un groupe de 100 personnes âgées dont 10 souffrant de maladies cardiaques, et en République tchèque avec un groupe de 10 patients diabétiques.

In co-operation with the European Commission a European congress titled "Demographic change as an opportunity - the economic potential of the elderly" will be hosted by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth on 17 and 18 April 2007 in Berlin.

The Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Mrs Ursula von der Leyen and the EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Mr Vladimír Spidla, have emphasized the importance of the elderly generation for Europe on the occasion of the congress opening: "By using their professional experience, their outside work commitment and not least their purchasing power, elderly people may significantly contribute to growth and economic development."

In her speech to approximately 400 congress participants from all EU member states, Mrs Ursula von der Leyen said: "This event shall convey the following messages: Elderly people are an asset to our society. They have skills and potential.

In our society, we need elderly people - we would like to benefit from their know-how for a better co-operation between the generations, for economic growth and the labour market.

With the so-called "silver economy" which focuses on senior citizens as consumers, Europe can open up a new, profitable market and become a trend-setter world-wide."

Nearly all of the member states of the European Union are experiencing the same development: the birth rate has been decreasing since the mid-sixties. In 1970, the birth rate within in the EU of the 25 amounted to 2.35, today it comes to 1.52. In the decades to come, the population of nearly 500 million in the 27 current member states will noticeably decline. The group of those capable to work aged between 15 and 65 will fall by approximately 50 millions, whereas the number of those aged over 80 will triple. The large potential of this so-called "silver economy" is shown by a new study conducted by the German Institute for Economic Research.

According to this study, the 60+ generation in Germany has a purchasing power of 316 billion Euros and thus contributes nearly one third of the total private consumption. Until 2050, this share will increase to 386 billion Euros solely for demographic reasons and will amount to more than 41 percent of the total consumption.

Fernando Feliz, a sprightly 77-year-old Spaniard wearing a jogging suit and sneakers, does not know what he would do if he no longer could care for himself. Right now, he is too busy to worry about it, between trips to his beach house in Valencia and volunteer work at amateur soccer tournaments in Madrid. But if that day ever comes, he is certain about one thing: He does not want to live with his children. "I don't want to be a burden to anybody. I'd rather die - as simple as that," said Feliz, a retired factory manager. "I know what it was like when my wife took care of her mother, and I don't want that for my children."

Old age in Europe is not what it used to be. Traditionally, Spanish seniors like Feliz had few alternatives. They stayed with their family, or those who were utterly alone would check into hospital-like residences run by nuns. But now, adult children with demanding jobs are less inclined or able to care for parents, even in Mediterranean countries with tight-knit families. Seniors themselves are demanding more independence in the lengthening, post-retirement stage of life.

In Norway, the Netherlands and Denmark only 1 of 25 elderly people lives with their offspring, according to a 2006 report on long-term care by the European Commission and the American Association of Retired Persons.

Meanwhile, demographics are shifting: By 2050, people over 65 are forecast to make up one-third of the EU population, a jump from 16.5 percent today. As the old safety nets erode, European states are searching for formulas to reduce health care and retirement costs in the face of strong demand for services.

So how will the next generation fund its needs? The solution is part private, part public and the answer, of course, varies from country to country, shaped by national regulations and the relative generosity of taxpayers.

Governments, in general, are encouraging ways to help seniors remain outside of costly state-backed institutions. As the onus shifts to the individual, an increasing number of companies have seen an opportunity for profit. Market innovations range from new types of insurance policies, to specialized care homes and communities - for those who can afford them.

Today, Feliz can take his pick from more than 5,000 nursing homes across Spain, most of them privately owned and nearly half of them built in the last eight years, according to the privately held developer Bancaja Habitat in Valencia.

By the end of this decade, he could also rent or buy an apartment in one of at least 25 planned retirement "resorts" that offer everything from the pottery classes and trips to the Alhambra in Granada to on-site physical therapy.

Eventually, he might remain in his own home with the help of a barrage of gadgets like fall-detecting sensors or even a robot nurse to follow him around, according to Empirica, a consulting firm in Bonn in emerging technology for assisted living.

"The traditional care-giving scheme is breaking down, and that creates opportunities," said Fernando López Clemente, managing director of Sanyres Mediterranea, a luxury retirement joint venture between Bancaja Habitat and Grupo Prasa, a real estate company. It plans to build continuous-care communities along the Spanish coasts in the next five years. The first, the €50 million, or $67.4 million, Santa Pola Life Resort on the Costa Blanca, will feature shops, a theater, 24-hour security, €2,000-per-month health care packages. It opens in 2008 and backers hope to attract Spaniards and Northern European retirees seeking sunnier climes.

In Denmark, the latest trend is the do-it-yourself retirement community. In these so-called shared accommodations, friends or groups of like-minded people develop their own village or apartments. They each have their own homes but share dining areas, gardens, craft workshops, whatever suits their fancy - and collectively hire care services when needed. The price is about €1,000 a month outside Copenhagen.

"The new generation would like to buy extra services and is willing to pay for them." said Margrethe Kahler, political consultant for DaneAge, the senior advocacy association of Denmark.

Perhaps the most dramatic transformation is under way in the Netherlands, which now gives dependent seniors the option of receiving a "care budget" to pay for their own services in lieu of an institutional bed. The maximum yearly allotment is €50,000 - two-thirds of what the state would pay for nursing home care. Last year, 85,000 people opted for the personal budget, saving the state at least €330 million, said Friso Teerink, president of the national Society of Social Gerontology.

Many other countries are offering incentives for traditional home care and experimenting with measures to limit expenses. At least three cities in Norway - Bergen, Baerum and Oslo - have opened elderly residences in the south of Spain, where property is cheaper and the weather warmer.

Foreign companies have also seen the potential. Sunrise Senior Living, one of the largest assisted living providers in the United States, already operates nine complexes in Germany, another 15 in Britain and is looking for growth in the rest of Western Europe.

The shares of the company, based in Virginia, have risen 32 percent in the year to date as revenue is climbing.

John Crisp moved his 85-year-old mother into a Sunrise complex near London, where, he said, apartments start at £4,000, or $7,917, a month. But the money is worth it, he said. His mother feels secure and is making friends.

But the traditional care home is not in danger of extinction.

In Britain private care homes have become a buoyant sector, worth about £11 billion, and the industry is dominated by large companies that are driving mom-and-pop homes out of business, according to Anthony Oldfield, an analyst at King Sturge, a real estate company in London.

In the last four years, private equity firms like Blackstone have bought up 90 percent of the largest British nursing home operators, said Leonid Shapiro, partner at Candesic, a consulting firm specializing in such transactions.

The market is also strong in Germany, where more than 10,000 public and private nursing homes cater to the country's frailest elders, up 23 percent in the last eight years, according to Martin Züchner, Germany manager at the Bancaja Habitat.

Meanwhile, many of the elderly people struggling to make ends meet on a meager pension will have to continue to rely on governments to pay nursing home bills or, increasingly, home-based social services.

In many Northern European countries, most elderly people are still cared for by the state - often regardless of their ability to pay. Germany, for instance, spent more than €20 billion on these benefits in 2004, according to a European Commission report on the effect of aging on public expenditure.

But in the future, those who struggle to pay for the brave new world beyond the womb of the welfare state might need to turn to a burgeoning range of innovative financial products.

European insurance companies are experimenting with long-term care policies designed to protect the assets of healthy buyers who are 60 or 70 years of age. There is also a range of so-called end-of-life annuity plans, entailing a hefty one-time investment in exchange for payouts for immediate care.

Spanish banks, meanwhile, are planning to cash in on the flock of Northern Europeans expected to buy retirement homes in Spain with special mortgage packages that include health care services or insurance.

"Banks have to change their products to capture the Third Age," said Magarida Colet, whose consulting firm, Mape, specializes in health tourism. "If they have a young client, maybe they'll give away an iPod. But what does an older client care about? Their health."

Source International Herald Tribune

La commission de l'Emploi et des Affaires sociales (EMPL) du Parlement a adopté, mercredi 21 mars 2007, le projet de rapport de la députée Ria Oomen-Ruijten relatif à "L'amélioration de la portabilité des droits à pension complémentaire".

La commission a enrichi le texte initial de plusieurs amendements relatifs aux exemptions de transferts de droits.

La commission EMPL souhaite particulièrement que soient supprimées les dispositions de la directive qui permettent d'exempter "les régimes par répartition, les caisses de soutien ou les entreprises qui constituent des provisions au bilan en vue du versement d'une pension à leurs employés" de l'obligation de transfert des droits.

La commission a aussi adopté des amendements relatifs aux droits des affiliés dormants, demandant aux Etats-membres de prendre des mesures pour assurer le traitement équitable des droits aux pensions dormantes pour les travailleurs transfrontaliers, et de les aligner sur la valeur des droits des affiliés actifs (retraités).

Enfin, la commission a adopté un amendement selon lequel la période d'attente d'acquisition de droits aux pensions complémentaires ne peut excéder 5 ans, ni s'appliquer aux personnes ayant atteint l'âge de 25 ans. La rapporteure doit maintenant finaliser son rapport et son projet de résolution avant leur vote, en avril prochain, par le Parlement réuni en plénière.

Source FOCUS

Les soins donnés aux personnes âgées sont menacés par le manque de gériatres dans les hôpitaux, avertit le professeur Jean-Pierre Baeyens, secrétaire de la Société Belge de Gérontologie et de Gériatrie, dans la publication médicale bi-hebdomadaire Medi-Sfeer.
Les gériatres sont des spécialistes médicaux qui s'occupent du diagnostique et du traitement des maladies liées à la vieillesse. En 2000, la Belgique comptait un gériatre pour 5.679 personnes âgées de plus de 65 ans. "Si le quota actuel de gériatres n'est pas doublé, nous serons confrontés d'ici 2030 à un manque dramatique de gériatres", a signalé le professeur Baeyens.
Le nombre de gériatres, pouvant terminer leurs études chaque année en Belgique, est déterminé par la loi. En Flandre, le quota minimum est de 6 et en Wallonie de 4. "C'est un quota qui peut fluctuer en fonction de la demande. Il peut donc y en avoir dav! antage si la demande est plus importante", a-t-on précisé au cabinet du ministre de la Santé publique, Rudy Demotte.
D'ici 2030, la Belgique comptera 2,4 millions de personnes âgées de plus de 65 ans. Le cabinet Demotte a indiqué que le quota maximum de médecins (généralistes et spécialistes) sera de 975 en 2013, soit 30% de plus qu'en 2003.

Source : www.lalibre.be