PRESS RELEASE
Brussels, 14 November 2012
WeDO Project Closing Conference, 14 November
EU Quality framework for Long-term care services launched today in the European Parliament!
‘As the EU population is ageing rapidly, the provision of care services in old age will have to be improved and a common response at EU level is required to make sure people can age in dignity everywhere in Europe. We hope the WeDO EU Quality framework will be a first step in that direction and towards better quality long-term care in the European Union’, stated Anne-Sophie Parent, Secretary-General of AGE platform Europe, prior to the closing event of the WeDO project at the European Parliament on 14 November, in which the EU Quality framework for Long-term care services was officially presented.
In the last few years the fight against elder abuse and the improvement of the life and care quality of older people have gained importance at international and European level. With the rapid growth of long-term care demand at home or elsewhere, an increasing number of stakeholders are involved in the provision of long-term care services. Providing a common analysis, vision and values, the European Quality framework for Long-term care services is an invitation to all relevant stakeholders at all levels (EU, national, regional and local) to build on what already exists in their country and to improve their system, getting inspiration from each other, in order to guarantee quality long-term care services within the EU and prevent elder abuse.
The ‘EU Quality framework for Long-term care services: Principles and areas of action for the wellbeing and dignity of older people in need of care and assistance’ is the result of the two-year WeDO project, coordinated by AGE Platform Europe with the help of 18 partner organisations. It aims to improve the quality of life for older people in need of care and assistance with a set of 11 quality principles and 7 areas of action, recommendations for policy makers and a methodology on how to implement them with a participatory approach. It gets inspiration from the ‘European Charter of the rights and responsibilities of older people in need of care and assistance’ launched in 2010.
The Quality framework was officially launched on paper version today at the WeDO project’s final conference organised in the European Parliament in Brussels and hosted by Heinz K. Becker, MEP and co-chair of the Intergroup on Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity. This event gathered a wide range of stakeholders who are or could be involved in implementing the quality framework (policy makers at all levels, research institutes, care service providers, older people’s organisations, carers’ organisations, etc.) in front of a full room of more than 130 participants.
The WeDO project led also to the creation of an EU-wide partnership of stakeholderscommitted to the objectives of the Quality framework and composed of 12 national coalitions led by the project partners. The partnership will continue after the project ends with the aim of monitoring the implementation of the Quality framework in the different countries involved and promote it in other EU countries.
‘We bear a Europe-wide social responsibility of providing an efficient long-term care system, which guarantees the dignity and well-being of those in need of assistance and care. We have to act now for a secured quality of life in the years to come!!’highlighted Mr Heinz K. Becker.
The Quality framework and a 4-pages summary can be downloaded in 10 languages on the WeDO project’s website: www.wedo-partnership.eu.
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Useful links:
- WeDO project: www.wedo-partnership.eu
- Link to closing event webpage: www.wedo.tttp.eu/wedo-events
- More information on the the European Charter of the rights and responsibilities of older people in need of care and assistance: www.age-platform.eu/en/daphne
