Written by: Sotiria Moza
Date: December 13, 2025
25 Years of Materia Group: Advancing Healthy Ageing for Longer
A Milestone Moment for Healthy Ageing in Cyprus
In 2025, Materia Group marks 25 years of commitment to healthy ageing, prevention, and person-centred care across Europe and beyond. Since its establishment, Materia Group has consistently worked at the intersection of science, policy, and practice, advocating for innovative approaches that support people to live longer, healthier, and more functional lives.
Against this backdrop, the implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) Scorecard in Cyprus represents both a milestone and a natural continuation of Materia Group’s long-standing mission. The ICOPE framework reflects a global shift away from fragmented, disease-centred systems towards integrated, community-based care that prioritises functional ability and quality of life—principles that have guided Materia Group’s work for over two decades.
This assessment provides the first structured overview of Cyprus’s readiness and early progress in implementing the WHO ICOPE approach, offering evidence-based insights to support national dialogue, policy development, and system transformation.
Why ICOPE Matters for Cyprus
Cyprus is undergoing a rapid demographic transition. By the end of 2023, nearly 18% of the population was aged 65 years or older, a proportion that has steadily increased over the past two decades. At the same time, multimorbidity affects more than one-quarter of the general population and nearly 70% of older adults, placing increasing pressure on health and social care systems.
Despite the introduction of the General Healthcare System (GeSY), long-term care services remain under-developed, with limited formal home-care provision and comparatively low public spending on long-term care. These trends underline the urgent need for integrated, preventive, and function-focused models of care—the core objective of the WHO ICOPE framework.
The Cyprus ICOPE Scorecard: Purpose and Approach
The WHO ICOPE Scorecard implementation in Cyprus was conducted in September 2025, within the framework of COST Action PROGRAMMING (CA21122)—a European initiative dedicated to advancing integrated care for older people through shared learning, capacity building, and evidence-based implementation.
The assessment brought together key opinion leaders and stakeholders from across the national ageing-care ecosystem, including academia, clinical practice, nursing leadership, civil society, patient representation, and health system management. Using the WHO-validated methodology, experts assessed 19 core ICOPE actions across governance, service delivery, workforce capacity, caregiver support, digital health, and monitoring systems.
This collaborative process ensured that findings reflect a shared, evidence-informed national perspective, rather than isolated examples of good practice.
Key Findings at a Glance
The Scorecard results indicate that Cyprus is currently in a transitional phase, with an overall implementation score of approximately 1.9 out of 4, corresponding to the “Initiation of Implementation” stage.
Key insights include:
- Early pilot initiatives in community engagement and caregiver support
- Recognition of core ICOPE service delivery processes, though not yet institutionalised
- Significant gaps in governance, leadership, and financing mechanisms
- Workforce and digital solutions driven mainly by academic or project-based initiatives
- Strong professional commitment, but limited system-level integration
These findings highlight both the challenges and opportunities facing Cyprus as it seeks to scale integrated, person-centred care for older adults.
👉 [Download the full PDF report here]
Looking Ahead
As Materia Group celebrates 25 years of impact, this work reaffirms a core belief: healthy ageing is achievable when systems focus on people, not just diseases. The WHO ICOPE framework offers Cyprus a powerful opportunity to build a future-ready care system; one that supports autonomy, dignity, and functional ability across the life course.
Materia Group remains committed to supporting this journey.