The prevention of frailty in older people has been given a new impetus with the launch of the European project EMA-FRAILTY, an ambitious initiative funded by the Transforming Health and Care Systems (THCS) programme. The project began with a first kick-off meeting held at the University of Alicante (UA), the institution leading the international consortium.

Coordinated by Professor Francisco Flórez-Revuelta, director of the research group Intelligent Environments for Active and Healthy Ageing (AmI4AHA) at the University of Alicante, the EMA-FRAILTY project proposes the design and implementation of an advanced telecare system based on Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technologies and the Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) technique. This system, which will be installed in real homes during the validation phase, combines environmental sensors, wearable devices, privacy-embedded cameras and mobile applications to provide continuous, non-invasive and personalised monitoring of the physical, emotional and social health status of elderly people.

The project consortium is made up of institutions from four countries: Spain, Italy, Poland and Romania. The partners include the University of Alicante, which acts as project coordinator, the Foundation for the Management of the Institute for Health and Biomedical Research of Alicante (ISABIAL), the Gerontological Association of the Mediterranean, the Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi of Milan, the SGH Warsaw School of Economics and the Fundatia Ana Aslan International of Romania.

Over the next three years, with a budget of ¤1.5 million, the teams will work on the development, testing and evaluation of the system in real conditions, including pilot studies in Spain and Romania. The results are expected to contribute not only to improving the quality of life and autonomy of older people, but also to optimising the resources of the healthcare system through earlier and more effective intervention.