CONSEJERIA DE SALUD Y SERVICIOS SOCIALES - JUNTA DE EXTREMADURA

Their core work

The Regional Ministry of Health and Social Services of Extremadura is the public authority responsible for healthcare delivery and social care across one of Spain's most rural and sparsely populated regions. In EU research projects, they serve as a real-world testing ground for technologies addressing rural healthcare challenges — from robotic and virtual companions for elderly people living alone (MoveCare) to integrated chronic disease management in underserved areas (CRANE). Their participation brings something labs cannot: actual patient populations, regional health infrastructure, and frontline experience with the operational realities of delivering care in low-density territories.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their earliest H2020 involvement (MoveCare, 2017) focused on ICT-driven solutions for elderly independence at home. By 2019-2021, their participation broadened in two directions: building renovation technology (ENCORE) and comprehensive chronic care models for rural populations (CRANE). The trajectory shows a shift from technology-assisted eldercare toward a wider concern with rural health system modernization — both the physical infrastructure and the care models themselves.

Moving toward comprehensive rural health transformation — combining digital care models, building infrastructure, and integrated chronic disease management — making them an increasingly relevant pilot site for any project targeting underserved European territories.

How they like to work

Always a participant, never a coordinator — consistent with their role as a public end-user organization that provides real-world validation environments rather than leading research design. With 37 partners across 13 countries from just 3 projects, they operate in large, diverse consortia typical of ambitious RIA and PCP projects. This profile suggests they are straightforward to work with as a deployment partner: they bring the patients, facilities, and operational context, while relying on technical partners for R&D.

Despite only three projects, they have built connections with 37 distinct partners across 13 countries, reflecting participation in large European consortia. Their network spans Southern, Western, and Northern Europe with no single dominant geographic cluster.

What sets them apart

Extremadura is one of Europe's most rural and demographically challenged regions, making this authority a uniquely authentic pilot environment for any technology or care model targeting aging, depopulation, or rural service delivery. Unlike university hospitals or urban health authorities, they offer access to the exact populations and conditions that rural health innovations must ultimately serve. For consortium builders, they fill the critical "real-world deployment" slot that reviewers look for — a genuine public health authority with the mandate and motivation to adopt solutions that work.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CRANE
  Largest funding share (EUR 324,530) and longest project (2021-2026), directly aligned with their core mission of chronic care in rural Extremadura — signals deep institutional commitment.
• MoveCare
  Their first H2020 project and largest single grant (EUR 404,138), piloting virtual empathic caregivers for elderly people — an ambitious human-robot interaction deployment in real homes.