Support structures for the elderly

Nursing home for the elderly (EHPAD)

2022 figures

7 687

Structures in France

742 547

Authorized spaces per year

Main missions

  • Care for and accompany vulnerable elderly people who are losing their independence.
  • Provide medical and paramedical care.
  • Provide catering, maintenance and entertainment services.

Main source of funding

Financed by the Objectif Global de Dépenses (OGD), covered by Assurance Maladie and CNSA, and paid to establishments via ARS.

Professionals involved in care

  • Care support professionals (nurses, doctors, care assistants, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychomotor therapists, etc.).
  • Coordination and referral professionals (nurse coordinators, coordinating physicians, etc.).
  • Social support professionals (psychologists).

Good to know: The EHPAD Hors les Murs scheme is emerging to facilitate home support and the coordination of caregivers.

Sector
Medical-social
Target audience
60 and over

Independent living residences

2022 figures

2 326

Structures in France

137 042

Authorized spaces per year

Main tasks

  • Provide private, independent accommodation, as well as communal areas.
  • Contribute to preserving the autonomy of welcomed guests, and promote their social life.

Good to know: There are service residences that fulfill the same missions as independent living residences, but with a different status and operation (private managers).

Main source of financing

Financed via the Objectif Glocal de Dépenses (made up of resources from the Assurance Maladie and the CNSA), and in part by the Conseils Départementaux.

Professionals involved in care

  • Professionals involved in supervising and organizing support (management, secretariat, accountants, social agents for maintenance and restaurant service, technical agents, etc.
    • ).
  • Social support professionals (entertainers, etc.).
  • Depending on the facility: Care support professionals (occupational therapists, psychomotor therapists, dieticians, etc.).

Sector
Social
Target audience
60 and over

Day care centers (CAJ)

2022 figures

307

Structures in France

4 392

Authorized spaces per year

Main tasks

  • Provide respite for caregivers of elderly people, most often carriers of Alzheimer's disease.
  • Accommodate by the day or half-day.
  • Propose a variety of activities (sports, well-being, development and maintenance of cognitive abilities, health prevention).

Good to know:Their aim is twofold, to improve the quality of life of the elderly person losing their independence and to support the family caregiver.

Main source of funding

Financed via the Objectif Glocal de Dépenses (made up of resources from the Assurance Maladie and the CNSA), and in part by the Conseils Départementaux.

Professionals involved in care

  • Care support professionals (doctors, paramedics, psychomotor therapists, occupational therapists, etc.)

  • Social support professionals (care assistants, entertainers, psychologists, etc.).
Sector
Social
Target audience
60 and over

Experimental plants

2022 figures

40

Structures in France

526

Authorized spaces per year

Main missions

  • Medical care.

Good to know:These may include respite services for caregivers, EHPAD Hors les murs, experimental home services, etc.

Main source of funding

Benefit from temporary funding (e.g. FISS - Fond d'Investissement du Système de Santé, Article 51), paid by ARS.

Professionals involved in care

  • Care support professionals (doctors, paramedics, etc.).
  • Professionals supporting social life (educational staff, auxiliaires de vie, animation team, etc.).
Sector
Medical-social
Target audience
60 and over

Innovation in structures for the elderly

Innovation in structures for the elderly is essential today to meet the growing needs of this population. As EHPAD (Etablissement d'Hébergement pour Personnes Agées Dépendantes), independent living residences, day care centers (Centres d'Accueil de Jour - CAJ) for the elderly and experimental facilities multiply, it's becoming crucial to explore innovative solutions to improve residents' quality of life and optimize the services on offer.

EHPAD and PUV: The importance of innovation

EHPADs, as structures for the elderly, play a key role in the care of people losing their independence. The integration of new technologies can considerably enhance residents' well-being. For example, remote assistance systems enable real-time monitoring of each elderly person's state of health, reducing the need for emergency interventions and increasing the sense of security.

Petits Unités de Vie (PUV) offer a friendly alternative to large establishments, providing more intimate settings for the elderly. These units provide more individualized and humane support, promoting a better quality of life. Solutions such as home automation systems that automate daily tasks (intelligent lighting, fall detectors, etc.) can help to maintain the autonomy of each elderly person while ensuring their safety.

Residences Autonomie: Towards more independent living

Autonomy residences offer a living environment suited to relatively independent seniors who do not require intensive medical care. For these establishments, innovations focus on services that make daily life easier and preserve each senior's independence. These include home automation solutions for the home, homecare services via telehealth platforms, and social and cultural activities organized via mobile applications. These innovations aim to enrich residents' lives and maintain their independence for as long as possible. Each residence thus implements solutions tailored to the specific needs of its occupants.

Centres d'Accueil de Jour (CAJ): Respite services for caregivers

Centres d'Accueil de Jour (CAJ) for the elderly are structures that temporarily accommodate the elderly to offer respite to family caregivers. Here, innovation translates into personalized services tailored to the specific needs of each elderly person. CAJs can benefit from technologies such as virtual reality to stimulate cognitive abilities, or care coordination platforms to ensure comprehensive and coherent care. These services not only improve the quality of life of the elderly person, but also relieve caregivers by offering them much-needed rest time.

Experimental facilities: a laboratory for the future

Experimental facilities for the elderly are innovative structures that test new models of care and accommodation. Each facility is often the testing ground for pilot projects incorporating the latest e-health technologies. For example, robotics solutions to assist the elderly, teleconsultation platforms, or artificial intelligence systems to monitor the autonomy and health of each elderly person. These innovations enable practices to be validated before being deployed on a larger scale in other structures for the elderly.

GIR: An essential tool for assessing autonomy

The level of loss of autonomy of each elderly person is measured by the GIR (Groupe Iso-Ressources), calculated from the AGGIR grid. This system classifies people into six levels, from GIR 1 (greatest loss of autonomy) to GIR 6 (autonomy). People assessed as GIR 1 to 4 are eligible for the APA (Allocation Personnalisée d'Autonomie), which helps finance aids to improve their day-to-day living. Innovation in structures for the elderly also takes these assessments into account to personalize care and services, ensuring care tailored to each level of dependency.

A promising future for structures for the elderly

Innovation in structures for the elderly is crucial to meeting the challenges of an aging population. EHPADs, PUVs, independent living residences, day care centers and experimental facilities all represent opportunities to improve the quality of life of every elderly person and offer them services tailored to their needs. Innovators in the medical-social sector have a key role to play in this ongoing revolution, by integrating innovative technological and organizational solutions.

In short, whether to enhance residents' autonomy, improve accommodation services, or offer quality care services, innovation is the key to transforming structures for the elderly into safer, more comfortable and more stimulating living environments.

Support for the elderly is a type of structures in the medico-social and social sector.

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