ESN held its Spring Seminar 2010 in Athens on 11 May and welcomed 25 European and 35 Greek delegates to discuss the future of the care workforce. In a turbulent climate in Greece, ESN had the pleasure of working with the Central Union of Municipalities and Communities (KEDKE), the municipality of Zografou and the Ministry of Employment and Social Protection.

Quotes  and notes from the seminar:

“We want to look after those who every day looking after others.” (Carlo Alberto Librera, City of Bolzano, Italy)

“We have to meet the real needs of people at the local level, through municipalities who are close to their citizens.” (Dimitris Birbas, Central Union of Municipalities and Communities - KEDKE, Greece)

“Different professionals see an older person from different angles: a nurse may see someone in pain on a ward, but a physiotherapist sees a completely different person at the gym.” (Kirsi Santama, Head Advisor, Riistavuori Centre for Multiple Services, Helsinki)

“What I take away from this meeting is that empowering staff is also about empowering users.” (Liz Mestheneos, President, AGE-Platform Europe)
 

ESN will prepare a policy & practice paper on the care workforce during the summer and consider possible future work on this important issue. The presentations and other papers from the seminar are available below.

Background documents:

ESN briefing note and practice examples
OECD working paper
CEDEFOP skills paper
European Commission Green Paper on the Health Workforce
ESN consultation response   

Presentations

1. Opening and closing speeches

Antonia Kaliva, Deputy Mayor for Social Affairs, Municipality of Zografou, Greece (English / Greek)
Giannis Kazakos, Mayor of Zografou, Greece (English / Greek)

2. Workforce for care and inclusion: meeting the demographic challenge
Long-term care workforce: overview and strategies to adapt supply to growing demand
Francesca Colombo, Senior Health Policy Analyst, Health Division, OECD
Presentation / Working Paper

Identifying skills for care and inclusion
Tina Bertzeletou, Senior Expert, European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop)
Presentation / CEDEFOP skills report

A national qualifications and training framework: the case of France
Dominique Terrasson, Technical Advisor on Social Policy and Training, Directorate-General for Social Cohesion, Ministry of Employment and Solidarity, France
Presentation English / Fransais

3.  Long-term care services: strategies for increasing supply and reducing demand

Informal care in long-term care systems in Europe: INTERLINKS project report
Dr. Judy Triantafillou, Representative of CMT Prooptiki / Member of Greek INTERLINKS Team
Presentation

Case study on migrant care workers in Italy: INTERLINKS project report
Patrizia Di Santo, Representative of Studio Come s.r.l / Member of Italian INTERLINKS Team
Presentation

Skills for prevention and rehabilitation: a case study from Finland
Kirsi Santama, Head Advisor, Municipality of Riistavuori, Helsinki, Finland
Presentation

4. Workforce development strategies: planning and management

Towards an integrated local area workforce strategy
Jo Cleary, Executive Director of Adults’ and Community Services, Lambeth Borough Council (ADASS), London, UK
Presentation / Paper

Care workforce development in Greece with European Social Fund
Hara Diamantara, Hellenic Agency for Local Development
and Local Government and Christos Kirkoglou, ESF actions coordination and monitoring authority, Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Greece
Presentation

Managing staff and developing quality in residential care
Dr. Carlo Alberto Librera, Head of Nursing Homes, Social Services Department, Bolzano Region, Italy
Presentation