Innovation in care services for the elderly

International audienceAgeing and innovation are usually considered to be contradictory phenomena. This article on innovation in care services for the elderly seeks to counter this established view. Taking as its starting point a definition of care services for the elderly that draws on the economics of services, the article advances a simple framework for analysing innovation in terms of 'targets'. These targets, which make it possible to circumvent the usual economic categories (product and process innovation), are as follows: the various forms of assistance and residential provision for the elderly, the (tangible and intangible) technologies deployed, the services provided, the human environment (carers and relatives) and the institutional environment