In addressing the specific issues of physical activity, falls and injuries, as mentioned in the European Silver Paper [1], technologies currently exist for measuring the biomechanical performance of the joints of older adults. This is of value in informing the planning of their healthcare, rehabilitation and the design of the built environment and services to optimise their mobility and quality of life. However, the technologies for obtaining data from older adults currently entails screening to determine their fitness for trials participation, cumbersome and slow evaluation processes, large and expensive labs, and the data produced at present tends to remain in the style and domain of its originators, bioengineers, effectively creating a barrier to exploiting its wider value. The data is also generalised and it is difficult to plan immediate and effective healthcare on an individual basis. The challenges here are: (i) to share this data in an accessible format amongst a broad range key professions involved to enable more holistic planning; and (ii) to develop approaches and technologies that allow individualised diagnosis and planning.

Steps towards this goal have already been made [2] where a proof of concept trial has highlighted the value of the visualisation of biomechanical data obtained from older adults. This has underlined the value of a coordinated multidisciplinary approach to enable discipline-specific (ie biomechanical) data to be shared more easily by visual means with further disciplines, such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy and design, as well as allowing commentary from older people themselves. Further investment will assist in the development of not only technologies to the extent that they are portable, cost-effective, and easily usable, but also rethinking processes and protocols to be more inclusive, benefiting to a far greater extent from the valuable experiences and insights of older adults as well as a broad range of professionals. The availability of such technology will assist in the planning of physical activities compromised by age-related conditions, disease, or falls, such as appropriate exercises to prevent or minimise foreseeable injuries, rebuilding or maintaining strength through rehabilitation in the event of injury, or planning for increased mobility in institutionalised settings.