INRCA- National Institute on Health and Science of Aging

Italy

The National Institute on Health and Ageing (INRCA – Istituto Nazionale di Riposo e Cura per Anziani) is a public national body with over 1,200 employees. In addition to its headquarters in Ancona, it has branches operating in five Italian regions through six geriatric hospitals, an Alzheimer day care centre, a residential care institute and a gerontological research department.

INRCA’s mission is twofold: to provide health and long-term care to older people; and to carry out basic, applied and theoretical research on longevity and ageing related issues. Within a network of over 40 centres funded by the Italian Ministry of Health to carry out research beyond their traditional care tasks, INRCA is the only institute specifically focused on geriatric and gerontological topics.

This unusual position allows INRCA to provide high-quality clinical and translational research in the biomedical and health care services areas and to act as consultant to private and public institution in the field of socio-economic research.

In the past years INRCA has focused on the following socio-economic research on ageing and longevity: quality of life and well-being of older people; active ageing in the labour market (eg older workers) and in society (eg older volunteers and lifelong learning); prevention of elder abuse and neglect; contents, quality and costs of health, social and long-term care; family care of dependent older persons, with a particular focus on women’s role in caregiving and measures for reconciliation of work and unpaid care; migrant workers in long-term care; user-friendly technological innovations promoting independent living, tele-care and ICT-based solutions for dependent older people and their family carers.

In the last 20 years, INRCA has carried out several European projects on these topics.

Key personnel involved in the project

Andrea Principi: Senior researcher
Giovanni Lamura: Senior researcher
Roberta Papa: Administrative assistant/researcher
Marco Socci: Researcher
Georgia Casanova: Researcher

Main tasks attributed to them in the project

INRCA will participate in Extending working lives (tasks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5); Health and well-being (tasks 2 and 4); Social support and long term care (tasks 1, 2, 3 and 4), and Enhancing active citizenship (tasks 3 and 5).

Short profile of all personnel and previous relevant experience

Andrea is a sociologist and since 2000 has been a researcher at the National Institute of Health and Science on Aging (INRCA).

His main research interests cover active ageing, i.e. ageing at work, working carers’ reconciliation of work for the labour market with informal care to older family members, and volunteering in older age.

Andrea participated in several EU-funded projects among which: ASPA: Activating Senior Potential in Ageing Europe, funded by the European Commission, 2008-2010; Income from work after retirement – National report Italy, funded by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 2012; Measures to support social inclusion of the elderly, funded by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 2009-2010; “Carers@work: reconciliation of employment and elder care”, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, 2009-2010; Employment Initiatives for the Ageing Workforce in the European Union – National correspondent for Italy and Malta (funded by European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions) 2005/2007.

Main tasks attributed in the project: all tasks (1 to 5) within Extending working lives. Task 2 and 4 within Health and well-being, in tasks planned within Social support and long-term care, and in Enhancing Active Citizenship (task 3 and 5).

Giovanni is a social gerontologist with an international and interdisciplinary background. He has worked at INRCA since 1992. He graduated in economics in Italy in 1990; obtained a PhD in “Life course and social policy” at Bremen University (Germany) in 1995; was visiting fellow in 2006-07 at the University of Hamburg-Eppendorf (Germany) and research director of the pillar “health and care” of the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research in Vienna (Austria) in 2010-11. He has gained experience on international research projects focused on family and long-term care of dependent older people; work-life balance; migrant care work; prevention of elder abuse and neglect.

In 2011 he coordinated the four-country research project CARICT (Assessing the impact of ICT-based solutions for informal caregivers). In the last five years he has participated, in the following European projects: “EUROFAMCARE: Support services for family carers of older people”; “ABUEL: A multinational prevalence study on elder abuse”; “ASPA: Activating senior potential in an ageing Europe”; “Carers@work: reconciliation of employment and elder care”; “EURHOMAP: mapping home care services in Europe”; and “Futurage: outlining a “road-map” for future ageing research in Europe”.

Main tasks attributed in the project: Health and well-being (task 2 and 4) and in Social support and long term care activities.

Roberta Papa is a statistician and has worked for the Statistics Service of Marche Region and an Informatics private Society to collect and manage large amount of data about Italian population for CISIS (Interregional Centre for the Informatics and Statistics System). Since 2004 she has worked in the Centre of psycho-social aspects of aging of the Scientific-technological Area of INRCA (Italian National Institute on Ageing), as researcher. She has been involved in many National and European projects, in both management and scientific aspects.

Roberta has been involved in the following European projects: ZINCAGE: Nutritional zinc, oxidative stress and immunosenescence: biochemical, genetic and lifestyle implications for healthy ageing 2004-2006), SMILING: Self Mobility Improvement in the eLderly by counteractING falls (2008-2010), HAPPY AGEING: a Home based APProach to the Years of AGEING (AAL JP, 2009-2011), WIISEL: Wireless Insole for Independent and Safe Elderly Living (2011-2014).

Main tasks attributed in the project: Data elaboration within Health and well-being (task 2); Social Support and long term care (task 2) and Enhancing active citizenship (task 3). Roberta provided administrative support throughout the whole project.

Marco Socci has a Phd in Economic Sociology (2004, University of Brescia) and is researcher fellow at the National Institute of Health and Science on Aging (INRCA). He is also contract professor of Economic Sociology at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery at the Polytechnic University of Marche.

Between 2001 and 2003 Marco was researcher at the Centre of Health Economics of INRCA. In 2004 he was the Marie Curie visiting fellow at the SISA (Sheffield Institute for Studies on Ageing, University of Sheffield). Between 2006 and 2012 he was post-doc researcher at the Faculty of Economics “G. Fuà”, Polytechnic University of Marche (UNIVPM). He was also contract professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Engineering (UNIVPM, 2010-2011) and at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery (UNIVPM, 2006-2007).

Marco's research activities focus on the social economic research of the older people, taking into account a variety of themes. These include: studies on family caregiving; the assistance of older people provided by migrant care workers; analysis of the policies and practices of elderly care in Europe; labour market in the sector of personal services for elderly care; extending working lives of older workers; ICT and caregiving. His recent research interests also include: the ruling class and power elites, policy for local economic development, citizenship and social movements.

He has participated in several national and EU-funded projects (e.g. CARICT), cooperated with several Universities, research centres and public institutions (e.g. Luiss, Assonime, Italian National Union of Chambers of Commerce).

Main tasks attributed in the project: Marco Socci will take part in Extending working lives, Health and well being (task 2) and Enhancing active citizenship (tasks 3 and 5) activities.

Georgia Casanova is a policy analyst and since 2013 she has been a research fellow at the National Institute of Health and Science on Aging (INRCA). Her main interest is the ability to respond to the need of users and the effects this has on them. She is interested in integrated care, social innovation, quality of care and the relationship between dependency and socio-economic deprivation.

Since 2000 she has worked with several Universities and Research Centres to perform National and European projects that include comparative analysis (e.g. Luiss University, Bocconi University and NNA Network ). She recently collaborated in the ANCIEN EU-funded project, by studying the long term care quality system in European countries. She has expertise in the application of quantitative and qualitative research methods.

As research fellow, she has taught “Theory and techniques for social research” (San Raffaele University and Bicocca University) and “Social services system” (Genoa University). She is a consultant for the implementation of national and local programs (eg the national program to carers job market with Italia Lavoro spa). She has experience of evaluation in developing countries as a result of her experiences in international cooperation.

Main tasks attributed in the project: Georgia Casanova will participate in Health and well-being (task 4), and in all tasks within Social support and long term care.