Stirling academic to help World Health Organisation promote personalised care for the elderly

A University of Stirling academic has been called upon to help the World Health Organisation (WHO) promote personalised care for older people in the Middle East and North Africa.

Professor of Global Ageing Ian Philp was one of three international experts invited to the WHO Regional Consultation on Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, held in Beirut at the end of June.

Professor Philp, who is also Chief Scientific Officer of the EasyCare Academy, will adapt the academy’s assessment tool – which evaluates an older person’s needs and concerns across a range of biological, social, psychological and environmental domains – for use within WHO’s ICOPE toolkit.

“The World Health Organisation asked me to facilitate a three-day workshop in Beirut for the development of integrated care services for older people in the Eastern Mediterranean region,” he said.

There was strong interest in adopting the EasyCare assessment tool which integrates health and care services around the priorities of the older person, for use in the region - and also globally, through incorporation into the WHO toolkit for integrated care for older people.

“International research in the development and evaluation of the tool is led and coordinated by me as Professor of Global Ageing studies at the University of Stirling.”

In another important development, academics from Egypt, Qatar and the Lebanon have expressed an interest in joining the University’s Global Ageing Studies Programme – a collaborative research network involving scientists from across the world, including Australia, China and India.

“I lead and coordinate this network from the University,” said Professor Philp. “Following the meeting in Beirut, colleagues from several countries - including Qatar, the Lebanon and Egypt - are now planning to join as strategic research partners, giving us a strong footprint in the Eastern Mediterranean region.”