With the populations of most developed countries aging rapidly, there has been a pronounced move towards healthy aging policies that not only aim to keep people alive for longer, but to keep them active and healthy for longer.
A new article published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease proposes an innovative e-health solution to help older people maintain an active and healthy lifestyle. The work originates from the EU’s HATICE project, which is working to prevent cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline and dementia.
The project is currently operational in Finland, France and the Netherlands and involves over 2,500 senior citizens who have been identified as being at high risk of cardiovascular disease. Half of the group were given access to an online platform where they can monitor various cardiovascular risk factors, and also discover information on how lifestyle changes can reduce those risks. They can also interact with health professionals for guidance and support. The remaining half were the control group, and were not given access to this platform.
Reducing the risk
The platform aims to both increase awareness among participants about what is, and is not, considered a healthy lifestyle, and also the various risk factors for the senior citizens.
The study saw guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in each of the three countries compared and integrated into the HATICE platform. The guidelines were used to create a lifestyle counselling program for the platform, with effort made to ensure that the work is specific both to the age group but also the local conditions in each country.
“The possibility of devising common preventive programmes throughout Europe and delivering them through the Internet means that we may be able to reach a larger portion of the population in a simpler and cost-effective way. This would improve our chances of better preventing cardiovascular disease and dementia,” the authors say.
“This study addresses the need to improve our knowledge of how to best support healthy ageing and prevention of cardiovascular disease and dementia in the senior population. The results of the HATICE trial will provide important information on how to better control cardiovascular risk factors in this age group, and plan large-scale preventive programmes.”
