In a country where 23% of people are over the age of 65 - and up to 40% in some municipalities - talks on new models of care and support for the elderly are essential for the Danish government, which already begun work on an overall reform of long-term care (LTC). Under the auspices of the Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, a conference, entitled “Towards Age-Friendly Societies” was hosted by the Danish Ministry for Senior Citizens on 27 October which aimed to delve into essential elements of reform, capture experience from other countries, and contribute to EU policies.
Europeans today live longer, healthier lives than they did in the past. However, there is also the stereotype that ageing is all about decline. Moving past these stereotypes requires seeing older people as a population of individuals with different identities, preferences, capabilities and aspirations and not as a single, uniform group.
How we change the narrative around growing older and what comes with it was also a driver for Teun Toebes, who at 21 made the decision to live in a dementia ward for more than three years. He then took this experience and made the award-winning documentary Human Forever, which captured testimonies of people with dementia from around the world in an effort to not only raise awareness of their situation, but also spark a global change on how such persons are cared for.
As older people live longer and become more reliant on long-term care, there is also an increase in the numbers of people who live with chronic conditions. In the European Union, for example, there are 7.8 million individuals who live with dementia, but figures predict a steep increase of this number to 14 million by 2030. This growth, in turn, has meant that local social care systems are under growing pressure to provide longterm support for people with complex needs.
At the conference, ESN’s CEO Alfonso Lara-Montero shared the panel with European Commission Director Kataryna Ivankovic-Knezevic, WHO’s Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat and Age Platform’s Maciej Kucharczyk to discuss the requirements of present and future models of care and support to effectively support older people with long-term needs.
LTC is largely delivered locally, so for local authorities and social services to provide next generation LTC at home and the community, several interlocking supports are essential, each of which were discussed in one way or another during the 27 October conference. Alfonso touched upon key themes of stable and sustainable funding, the workforce, and coordination between services.
"Community-based services need to be based on the needs of a person, not short, one-off projects and emergency budgets. Local leaders need confidence to plan long term, to invest in prevention, early intervention, in innovation and people, instead of always having to fire fight. This will comprise of a mix of base funding (statutory fixed) and additional innovation/pilot funding”, explained Alfonso.
He went on to argue that we need to back the people who make care happen every day: social workers, community workers, carers, community nurses, gerontologists, and social care workers. That begins with quality training, decent working conditions, and accessible opportunities to develop new skills and knowledge, particularly in relation to co-production, digital tools and partnership working. Quality of support goes way up when employees know that they are valued.
Another significant area of focus is collaboration and coordination. Care does not sit neatly in one department; it is about the home, health, jobs, education, and community. Local services require support, for example through legislation, policy, work plans and protocols, to develop those cross-sector relationships as well as learn from others. That is where networks like the European Social Network are so important.
Maciej Kucharczyk emphasised the need to engage older people who have had experience of care and support. The involvement and engagement of older people in planning their care is important as it respects their autonomy, sheds light on what they want, and results in support that is more aligned with individuals’ needs and improves their quality of life. In that regard, while discussing principles that should underpin care and support models in future, Alfonso emphasised the importance of embedding co-production at all levels. Those with lived experience should be co-producers in the development, delivery, and evaluation of services as their voice ensures that care systems are responsive to real need and aspirations.
The Towards Age-Friendly Societies conference is crucial to further encourage the implementation of European initiatives such as the Care Strategy, which in turn should empower local services with responsibility for long-term care with resources, skilled people, good data, and the space to collaborate and learn. That is how change becomes sustainable, and that is how we can ensure we make it happen in practice.
