Age-IT  is a three-year project (2023-2026) financed by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan - NRRP, aimed at creating a network of universities, research institutes, and companies to investigate the consequences and challenges of ageing. The project, which uses the HUB&SPOKE model, represents the first integrated and interdisciplinary effort at national level bringing together excellence institutions focused on ageing processes through the point of view of the social, biomedical and technological sciences. Age-IT aims also to create an innovative 'empirical laboratory' through the study of ageing and the development of socio-economic, biomedical and technological solutions.
CRESI will address two SPOKEs:
- In SPOKE 5, "Care and sustainability in an ageing society", CRESI will develop and promote environmentally, economically and socially sustainable solutions with regard to caregivers.
- In SPOKE 10, "Mainstreaming ageing by building institutional mechanisms for better and future-oriented health policy making and prevention," CRESI will analyse Italian policies concerning active ageing in order to create guidelines for policy makers.

Discover the official website of the project: il sito ufficiale del progetto. (in Italian)

The researchers involved: 
Cristina Gagliardi: C.gagliardi@inrca.it; Maria Gabriella Melchiorre: m.melchiorre@inrca.it; Sara Santini: S.santini2@inrca.it; Giovanni Lamura: g.lamura@inrca.it; Andrea Principi: a.principi@inrca.it

LONG-TERM CARE (LTC)

This approach to the care of non-self-sufficient older people analyses social and health services, including the various forms of economic benefits provided by the Italian welfare system. This is done by adopting a comparative viewpoint, including an international one, which makes it possible to better understand the specific features of the Italian context, and thus to better identify possible reforms of the system. Among the issues examined, we can include the need for integration between formal services and informal care, the management and emergence of the phenomenon of private family caregivers (the so called "badanti"), and the continuity of care, also taking into account the regional specificities that distinguish our country.

WELL CARE - Investing in the mental health and wellbeing of informal carers and long-term care workers through the identification, evaluation, and promotion of good practices across Europe (2024-2027)
The WELL CARE project, funded by the European Union’s (EU) Horizon Europe programme (Grant agreement - No. 101137468) focuses on improving the resilience and mental wellbeing of informal carers and long-term care (LTC) workers by strengthening care partnerships. By care partnership we mean the coordination, integration, and mutual recognition of care and caring activities performed by LTC workers and informal carers, in a vision of integrated LTC. The WELL CARE project aims to increase the understanding of successful ways of preventing and managing mental health issues among informal carers and long-term care workers. This includes looking at personal factors, the environment, and how organizations can make solutions successful. The ultimate goal is to develop a set of support measures (prototypes) to address the mental health needs of both LTC workers and informal carers, thus sustaining and enabling a vision of care partnerships between these two groups. Referent: Marco Socci (m.socci@inrca.it)
For more information
Project website: https://wellcare-project.eu/
Project leaflet
Follow the project on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wellcare-project/

HOMeAGE – Advancing Research and Training on Ageing, Place and Home: the HOMeAGE Doctoral Training Network is a nine-country collaboration between leading research units, major intergovernmental organisations, international civil society actors and governmental and non-governmental organisations. This interdisciplinary, intersectoral, and international programme aims at developing new research leaders for the advancement of evidence-based innovation on ageing in place. INRCA will host, together with the Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM), two of the 12 HOMeAGE Doctoral Researchers, who will all participate in a 36-month network-wide training program, including public engagement activities and short-term secondments in other European partner organisations. For more information on the programme: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101073506. For the call for applications please consult: this document

SOUND: Training social and health care professionals in music-based therapeutic interventions to support people with dementia (February 2022 - July 2024). This project aims at developing a curriculum of passive and active music-making activities training for dementia social and health care professionals and informal carers, and an original music-based nonpharmacological intervention to improve behaviour, mood, and quality of life of older people with dementia and delay as much as possible further cognitive functions decline. Referent: Sara Santini (s.santini2@inrca.it). Visit the project website. 

HERO: Training program in elderly care and infectious disease prevention for the integration of refugees from the Middle Eastern and African countries in western society (September 2020-December 2022): the overall aim is combining the demand for health care by older people living with frailty with the supply of labour in the formal care sector, e.g. in hospitals, nursing homes and residential care homes. This will be done by training migrants and refugees from North Africa, the Middle East and Syria in caring for older people in order to increase the quality of care provided. To this end, the consortium is developing an educational programme in English and in the languages of the migrants' destination countries, i.e. Italian, Greek and Portuguese, which will be accompanied by an internship in a hospital. INRCA will host refugees in its hospital as trainees, support them with tutors and monitor the outcomes of this educational programme. The latter will be followed by a European certification that may contribute to the labour insertion of migrants and refugees in the care work sector. Referent: Sara Santini (s.santini2@inrca.it). Visit the project website. Read the related scientific publication.

Inclusive ageing in place (IN-AGE): funded by “Fondazione CARIPLO” (Call 2017 “Ricerca Scientifica. Ricerca sociale sull’invecchiamento: persone, luoghi e relazioni”) (2018-2021): Partners: IRCCS INRCA, Politecnico di Milano (coordinator), Università Mediterranea degli Studi di Reggio Calabria, AUSER. The study aims at analysing the in-place ageing patterns of people over 75 living with frailty, in relation to their living contexts and to the potential risks of social isolation and abandonment, in order to identify useful interventions to support their quality of life. A qualitative survey was carried out in three Italian regions (Lombardy, Marche and Calabria) and in different contexts (urban, rural and metropolitan), through in-depth interviews with older people living alone or with their carer. Innovative policies to support ageing in place already in implemented or promoted at national level were also mapped. Finally, knowledge about the risks of ageing in place will be spread through an awareness-raising campaign against loneliness. Recommendations for stakeholders and policy makers will also be proposed. In addition, a follow-up study was carried out in June-September 2020 in relation to the COVID-19 ("Coronavirus") emergency in two different urban contexts, Ancona and Brescia, with the aim of understanding the impact of lockdown, and consequent social distancing, on the health, care and loneliness conditions of people already interviewed during the survey conducted in 2019. Website and Facebook page. Referent: M. Gabriella Melchiorre (g.melchiorre@inrca.it)

Care for non-self-sufficient elderly people in the Marche Region (2019-2020): this study was conducted on behalf of the Committee for the Control and Evaluation of Policies belonging to the Marche Regional Council, in order to assess the satisfaction of non-self-sufficient elderly people and their families (caregivers) in regards to existing interventions and social-health services. The survey, carried out with the collaboration of the FNP-CISL, SPI-CGIL and UILP-UIL pensioners' unions, made it possible to reach 450 households distributed in the 13 health districts of the Marche region. A 'snapshot' of the existing situation will be taken in order to provide indications and recommendations on the reorganisation of the services aimed at this segment of the population. Recent impulses received from the adoption of the 'National Plan for non-self-sufficiency' will also be considered.  The survey was carried out in two tranches. In the first, conducted in the period November 2019 - March 2020, the detailed picture of the point of view of the assisted older people and their family caregivers was collected. In the second, conducted in the period June-August 2020, a telephone follow-up was carried out, aimed at capturing the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on the participants of the first survey. The aim was to understand how the health emergency affected the living conditions and care received by those older people and their families, in order to better reorganise services for the post-pandemic phase. An overview in Italian of the results of the first survey can be found in the first part of the regional publication (Italian language) which can be downloaded here, while the results of the follow-up study will be available soon. Referent: Giovanni Lamura (g.lamura@inrca.it)

CEQUA: European network for quality and cost-effectiveness of continuous care for older people and prevention of dependency (2016-2018): website. Referent: Giovanni Lamura (g.lamura@inrca.it)

ICARE4EU - Innovating care for people with multiple chronic conditions in Europe (2013-16): website Referent: M.Gabriella Melchiorre (g.melchiorre@inrca.it)

SUPPORT FOR FAMILY CARERS

Family members engaged in the informal care of a dependent older person are often neglected in the planning and implementation of measures to support the dependent population, despite the fact that their contribution to ensuring continuity of care at home is fundamental, and quantitatively superior to that provided by formal services. The identification and adoption of adequate support measures to support their activities, in a partnership between the various actors operating in the sector, represents a fundamental element to avoid that these figures become what the literature has defined as the "second victims" of the pathologies that afflict the people they look after.

DanceCARE - Dance Movement Therapy and Conscious Movement as innovative tools in emotional education and support for long-term caregivers (2023-2026)
The overall objective of the DanceCARE project is to reduce the burden of semi-formal (family assistants) and informal (relatives) caregivers who have been providing long-term (LT) care to elderly people in need of assistance. The aim is to reduce the risk of depression and isolation through an innovative, flexible, and blended educational program for LT caregivers. This program is based on Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) and Wise Motion (WM) techniques, and it is designed to be replicable, becoming a best practice to be adopted at local, national, and European level. Referent:  Sara Santini (s.santini2@inrca.it). For more information, visit the project website or the Facebook page

Nexus: connecting research policies and youth practices for young carers (2023-2026) : The project aims to strengthen the links between policy, research, and practice both in the youth as well as in the welfare sector by raising awareness on the importance of end-users involvement in research and policy development among youth and young caregivers’ support workers by upskilling them to that end and by promoting their work. The project also aims to support active citizenship, a sense of initiative, and entrepreneurship of young people and, in particular, of young carers (e.g. of grandparents with disability). Click here for the official website of the project. Referent: Sara Santini (s.santini2@inrca.it)

WHO - Online Training Resources for Carers (2024-2025)
The study aims to monitor and analyse the existing online training resources for carers of elderly patients and to identify their effectiveness.
The objective is planning the necessary resources for a dedicated multilingual online platform. Referent: Sara Santini (s.santini2@inrca.it) 

Demicare, Personalized support for informal caregivers of people with dementia (2022-2024): The DemiCare project, funded by the AAL programme, intends to develop a personalised support system based on artificial intelligence (AI) for informal caregivers of patients with dementia.  This system will provide information on the care of people with dementia that can be customized based on the progress of the disease, previous knowledge of the caregiver, and possible comorbidities. The use of 'smart' sensors (smartwatches and 'smart' soles) will allow informal caregivers, but also health operators, to acquire additional data on health status and disease progression, by means of a dedicated App for smartphone. This solution aims to reduce the burden on informal caregivers caring for a patient with dementia by providing them with the useful information they need at any given time.
For further information https://www.demicare.app/ Referent: Giovanni Lamura g.lamura@inrca.it

Study on consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak on informal carers and carer organisations across Europe (2020-2021): This study, funded by EUROCARERS, aims to: map and analyse the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on informal carers and the approximately 70 EUROCARERS informal care organisations through a European online survey; identify any good practices and models of informal care support developed by care organisations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency; and provide guidance to policy makers and care organisations on how to manage this critical event. Referent: Marco Socci (m.socci@inrca.it)

Survey on family care and care of older people in collaboration with the ‘International Observatory of the Family’ (2020-2021): this study is part of a broader partnership, created in 2018 between the "John Paul II" Theological Institute for Sciences on Marriage and the Family, the International Centre for Family Studies (CISF) and the Catholic University of Murcia (UCAM), which among its activities includes a specialised multidisciplinary survey on the family entrusted to CISF. INRCA participates as an institutional partner supporting the research development, offering a specific contribution on the topics of family and older people care. In 2020-21 the study aims at highlighting the role that family relationships play in qualifying the condition of poverty, as well as the more macro-social dynamics (social ties, social cohesion, short solidarity), analysis the following two aspects: family and relation poverty; family and economic poverty. Link to the Observatory website: (https://www.familymonitor.net/). Referent: Georgia Casanova (g.casanova@inrca.it);

Entwine - European Training Network on Informal Care) (2018-2022): this project, funded by the Horizon2020 programme under the call for proposals "Marie Sktodowska - Curie Innovative training Network (ITN)". (Grant Agreement n. 814072), foresees a collaboration between IRCCS INRCA and the Department of Economic and Social Sciences (DISES) of the Polytechnic University of Marche (UNIVPM), for the carrying out of research activities by two PhD students, funded by the project, in relation to the following two topics: "Opportunities and challenges of migrant care work in support of informal care" (Oliver Fisher); and "Online support services for informal caregivers: updating the European InformCare platform" (Alhassan Hassan). For further information https://entwine-itn.eu/. Referent: Giovanni Lamura (g.lamura@inrca.it);

ME-WE - Psychosocial Support for Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing among Adolescent Young Carers in Europe (2018-2021): this project, which involves 7 European countries, is funded by the EU programme "Horizon 2020". Its aim is to map European adolescents (15-17) caring for older and/or disabled family members and/or friends and to identify their needs, in order to design a psycho-educational course to increase adolescents' resilience and to plan social and health services to support them during their care. IRCCS INRCA will focus on young carers of older family members in Italy and all over Europe, in order to contribute to the improvement of care arrangements and services for older people and their young carers. Website Referent: Sara Santini (s.santini2@inrca.it);

Management of urinary incontinence in elderly patients (2015): Referent: Sara Santini (s.santini2@inrca.it)

PROMOTING ACTIVE AGING

A particular area in which part of the activity in this field takes place is that of social agriculture, which offers a varied range of services and activities for ageing in health, and represents a valuable centre of aggregation for older people and the community. 
Another specific way of promoting Active Aging is stimulating intergenerational relations and solidarity and understanding how best to make use of the different resources and skills available to the various generations. The Active Ageing paradigm thus, overcomes the view of old age as a passive phase of existence, in favour of a vision that recognises the older person as a resource and protagonist of social life:
In this context, IRCCS INRCA was the promoter of the Marche Regional Law 1/2019 "Promotion of Active Ageing", with the task of evaluating the actions and interventions foreseen. IRCCS INRCA also is an active member of the "Permanent regional table for active ageing" created by the law. Link to the Law: LEGGE REGIONALE 28 gennaio 2019, n.1 - Promozione dell’invecchiamento attivo. Referent: Andrea Principi (a.principi@inrca.it).

Silver Agri Age Project (2022-2025). Observational pilot study regarding a social agriculture treatment in elderly with mild cognitive impairment for an increased quality of life. This project (RDP Marche 2014/2020 - Measure 16.1 - Support for the establishment and management of operational groups of the EIP on productivity and sustainability of agriculture) will be an innovative pilot experience that aligns with the Marche model of social agriculture. It is designed to be replicable for its scientific and qualitative value, with the primary aim of increasing the competitiveness of farms and providing added value. 
The project will focus on experimenting with an individual treatment for the elderly with mild cognitive impairment, provided on the farm. This treatment will be based on Montessori thinking and methods, with the goal of improving their quality of life. Additionally, the farm will also experiment with producing high-quality food products suitable for promoting a healthy and balanced diet, tailored to the specific needs of the users.
Referent: Cristina Gagliardi (c.gagliardi@inrca.it)

The AAL project PRECISE (2022-2023) - Preact to lower the risk of falling by customized rehabilitation- aims to develop a decision support system (DSS) based on artificial intelligence (AI-DSS) capable of assessing the risk of falls in the elderly and quantifying their need for rehabilitation. Accompanied by a digital platform capable of designing and monitoring a rehabilitation programme tailored to the specific needs of the elderly, this system will make it possible to devise a customised rehabilitation intervention that can be managed independently by the user and his/her caregiver at home, without the need for continuous interaction between physiotherapist and patient.
For further information:https://precaise.eu/ Referent: Cristina Gagliardi c.gagliardi@inrca.it

National multi-level co-managed coordination of active ageing policies: it is a project (2019-2024) resulting from two three-year agreements between the Presidency of the Council of Ministers - Department of Family Policies (DIPOFAM, funding body) and the IRCCS INRCA. The partnership also involves representatives of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies and of INAPP, as team members. In the first three years, the project aimed to create a national multi-level co-managed coordination of active ageing policies. The project has developed along 3 main phases, in each of which the stakeholders network (made by referents from institutions and civil society both at national and regional level) was involved through a participatory approach. Starting from the analysis of state of the art of active ageing policies at national and regional level (phase 1), recommendations have been developed to support policy making and policy implementation on this topic (phase 2). In phase 3, the recommendations were implemented at national and regional level, to identify possible policy objectives to foster the consolidation and the development of initiatives in this area. In the second three-year period, the project aims, by further strengthening the stakeholders network, at building the path for the achievement of the objectives identified in the phase 3 of the previous three-year project period. This path could lead to the possible creation of a national active ageing strategy. Click here for the official website of the project. Referent: Andrea Principi (a.principi@inrca.it)

Active ageing in the Marche region (2020-2022) resulted from an agreement between the Marche Region (funding body) and the IRCCS INRCA. The project was aimed at producing a report containing recommendations for drawing up the first annual regional program on active ageing, as set out by Regional Law 1/2019 "Promotion of active ageing". The research work foresaw the monitoring and analysis of the existing policies of the Marche Region on this topic, and the active ageing initiatives that were implemented on the regional territory. In addition, a study was carried out on the conditions of mature and older volunteers during the Covid-19 pandemic. The results were later discussed through extended meetings of the permanent regional table on active ageing (art. 4 Regional Law 1/2019), which led to the sharing of recommendations and their inclusion into the report. Click here to download the report (in Italian). Referent: Andrea Principi (a.principi@inrca.it)

Social Agriculture Marche (ASM): this project (2019-2021) envisages the creation of active longevity workshops, sensory gardens and residential co-housing experiences for older people in accordance with the Rural Active Longevity Laboratory Model (DRG 336/2016). The project is developed on seven farms distributed throughout the Marche Region. INRCA-IRCSS will be in charge of the scientific monitoring, validation and publication of the results and will organise the final conference. Moreover, it will follow the reporting of the whole project. The aim of this study is to document changes in selected outcome parameters, including quality of life, social relationships, participation in workshop activities, user satisfaction, and physical activity. Data collection is carried out by means of an ad hoc research protocol, administered to a sample of older people who will continuously take part in the proposed activities, characterised by the social farming model for an active longevity. Facebook page  Referent: Cristina Gagliardi (c.gagliardi@inrca.it)

Criteria-specific analysis of the Active Aging Index results in Italy (2018): Referent: Andrea Principi (a.principi@inrca.it)

Be the Change (2016-2018): Referent: Sara Santini (s.santini2@inrca.it)

Senior Social Entrepreneuring (2016-2018): Referent: Andrea Principi (a.principi@inrca.it)

EWL - Extending Working Lives (2014-17): Referent: Andrea Principi (a.principi@inrca.it)

Longevità attiva in ambito rurale (2014-16): Referent: Cristina Gagliardi (c.gagliardi@inrca.it)

MOPACT – MObilising the Potential of ACTive ageing in Europe (2013-17): Referent: Andrea Principi (a.principi@inrca.it)

My Mind: the effects of cognitive training for elderly (2012-16): Referent: Cinzia Giuli (c.giuli@inrca.it)

PREVENTION OF OLDER PEOPLE ABUSE

Maltreatment or abuse of older people, as intentional harm inflicted on them or as a failure to protect them and meet their basic needs, represents a complex, often hidden reality that is difficult to investigate, but which takes on increasing importance as a result of the progressive ageing of the population and the increase in extremely fragile and vulnerable individuals. This phenomenon affects multiple aspects (cultural, ethical, legal, social, economic), with serious consequences for the physical and mental health of victims, and an increased risk of mortality, morbidity, hospitalisation and institutionalisation. A recent meta-analysis estimated an aggregate prevalence rate of 15.7% worldwide. The most common forms found were psychological abuse (11.6%), financial abuse (6.8%), neglect (4.2%), physical abuse (2.6%) and sexual abuse (0.9%). Evidence provided by studies conducted in various countries (USA and Northern Europe) indicate a prevalence of episodes that reaches, depending on the methodology and context adopted, values between 3% and 27% of the population over 65 years old. In Italy, different studies indicate a prevalence of 13-20%. Poor socio-economic conditions, low levels of education, poor physical and mental health and lack of social support are the main risk factors. The management of older people abuse requires a strong involvement of care and support services and the development of targeted prevention and intervention strategies, also in order to increase the emergence of older people abuse through adequately protected reporting and the support of dedicated telephone services.

TAM TAM - Prevention of abuse Service for reporting abuse and maltreatment of older people by telephone: created and funded by the IRCCS INRCA, the service has been collecting reports of abuse against the elderly since 2010, providing specialist support to identify the most appropriate means of intervention. Referent: Giovanni Lamura (g.lamura@inrca.it)