On 10 October 2022, the Reference Sites Coordination Network (RSCN) held its 4th Call for AHA Reference Sites Awards Ceremony.
The event celebrated the success of the 65 AHA Reference Site regions. Each of them received accreditation for the work they are doing to address a life-course approach to active and healthy ageing.
The European Reference Sites Coordination Network:
- Has 65 Reference Sites distributed across 20 countries.
- Is today involved in three projects .
Like EHTEL, the coordination network is engaged in the Digital Health Uptake project.
Accreditation ranged from 1 Star to 4 Stars. At least 40 sites received a 4 star award!
To receive this accreditation, the active and healthy ageing (AHA) Reference Sites regions were evaluated on six criteria, including e.g., :
- Contributing to the European Digital Transformation of Health and Care
- Scale of demonstration and deployment of innovation.
Each successful site also completed a Maturity Self-Assessment - based on an adaptation of the SCIROCCO Exchange model - on how they were addressing the life-course approach.
The programme for the Awards Ceremony enabled AHA Reference Site regions to:
- Share knowledge and learning
- Promote examples of good practice
- Meet with other regions
- Celebrate their success!
Among awardees with a close working relationship to, or membership of, EHTEL were, from Italy, the Campania and Puglia regions; from Spain, Catalunya; and from the United Kingdom, Scotland and Wales. Included too, from France, was Eurasanté – to which EHTEL has long contributed to their series of AgeingFit conferences.
Among the wide range of speakers and presenters - from the European Commission, WHO, AHA Reference Sites, and European Union-funded projects - during the morning session of the Awards Ceremony was Donna Henderson, Procure4Health Project, who is EHTEL’s President.
The afternoon session began with a Round Table discussion with a number of regional Ministers and political representatives. The theme of the Round Table was “Aligning Regional Policies and Priorities Towards Developing Smart, Healthy, and Age-Friendly environments”. Among the panellists was Rosa Barone, Regional Minister for Welfare, Puglia in Italy.
The Awards Ceremony concluded with the presentation of certificates to each of the accredited AHA Reference Site regions by Marco Marsela, DG Connect, the European Commission.
Marc LANGE, Secretary General of EHTEL, reflected: “We, in EHTEL, are very proud to recognise just how many of our regional members were successful in obtaining accreditation at this impressive Reference Sites Awards Ceremony. We look forward to having even more members gain stars over the years to come!”