New report presents empowerment model for sustainable and quality long-term care

A new report commissioned by the Govenment of Biscay lays the fundations of a new, empowering, accessible and quality care model that respects older people’s rights, dignity and diversity. “The kind of care we all would like to receive at any moment of our lives when we may need it”. We contributed to the report and the recent launch event in Brussels.

In 2020, in collaboration with AGE Platform Europe, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia set up a group of European academic experts to help designing a long-term care model that allows sustainable and quality care. The group, made of six experts, prepared a report under the leadership of Professor Sarah Harper, University of Oxford. Last 8 September, this report was officially launched in the European Economic and Social Committee and discussed with a European wide audience. This release coincided with the release of the European Care Strategy by the European Commission.

The report supports a rights-based approach to care and argues for a stronger commitment to this approach. A human rights-based approach and respect for diversity of needs should be central to the design of any model of long-term care. Long-term care services should take a broader, more holistic view in which older people’s well-being and quality of life and their preferences regarding care and support are central to the design of services in line with existing human rights standards. To this end, the report and its recommendations are informed by the principles of “systems thinking” (i.e. a cohesive or holistic approach which considers the interactions and relationships between the different parts of a model), person-centered and integrated care. It also takes a life-course approach which reflects concern with promoting healthy ageing, gender and social equity. This work builds on and extends the thinking in the WHO Europe Country assessment framework for the integrated delivery of long-term care and in the ICOPE implementation framework for integrated care for older people. It furthermore facilitates the implementation of the recommendations recently adopted during the last UNECE Ministerial Conference on Ageing (June 2022).

For more information, visit the project webpage or contact Julia Wadoux, AGE Policy Manager on Healthy Ageing and Accessibilty