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ESN at policy and practice debate

What is the link between quality long-term care and working conditions in the care sector? What are the challenges to implement good working conditions and to meet the needs of service users? What role does technology play in the sector? These were the key questions discussed at the policy and practice debate ‘Decent work: access and quality of long-term care’ organised by Edenred and Toute l'Europe in Brussels on 19 March. From the European Social Network (ESN) CEO John Halloran was one of the key speakers, together with Daniel Molinuevo, Research Officer in the Living Conditions and Quality of Life unit of Eurofound, and Claudia Menne, Confederal Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).

Home care and workforce management

Social care services provided at home help elderly and dependent people to remain independent for longer. The quality of care services, as well as the degree to which the social aspect of care is integrated, determine if a person can grow old in their own home, socially included and self-determined. However, social care workers are often low paid for demanding working conditions, and time pressure does not allow for a person-centred care approach. On the other hand, the European Commission sees jobs creation potential in the health and social care sector that could address unemployment and an increasing demand for care with decreasing numbers of family carers and formal workforce.

At the debate, Daniel Molinuevo presented a Eurofound report that looks at jobs in the home care sector. The report underlines that there is a financial argument for community-based care over institutional care during the economic crisis. Certain labour market strategies, such as education, vocational training, improved working conditions and recruitment strategies can address the rising unemployment during the crisis and boost employment in that sector.

ESN’s CEO John Halloran shared the concerns about the low investment in social care workforce and with that, an unregulated market that exploits workers and puts older people at risk. He also underlined that next to better working conditions, the design of care around the needs of service users, as well as the involvement of service users themselves also have a significant impact on the quality of services and people’s standard of life. He highlighted that: “There are real challenges here but if we invest in a more person-centred local community approach then I believe we stand a better chance of getting the services and workforce that we need for the future. Person-centred care means treating service users as individuals with their own interests, preferences and needs rather than providing a standardised process with priorities set by professionals.”

The role of local government

Local authorities play an important role because they need to set up measures so that services meet the needs of citizens, ensure through contracting and inspection that the emphasis is on quality of outcomes and enable their workforce to work in a person-centred way. Measures like service and workforce coordination, involving service users and citizens, giving service users choice through personal budgets, implementing technology that enable older people to stay included in society for longer, as well as future workforce planning can help to address the issues of quality care and working conditions. ESN promotes the knowledge exchange between local authorities about the implementation of these measures.

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