With Europe's population aged 65 and over projected to rise by approximately 77% between 2004 and 2050, the number of people requiring long-term care is likely to grow sharply. To meet these needs, a vast continuum of long-term care services has emerged, ranging from nursing homes to alternative non-institutional settings. However, ensuring the quality of these facilities has not always proven easy.  

Host Country : Germany

Place and date : Murnau/Bavaria, 18. - 19.10.2010

Peer countries : Austria - Cyprus - Czech Republic - Estonia - Finland - France - Luxembourg - Spain - Sweden

Stakeholders : AGE, ESN

A multitude of initiatives have been undertaken throughout Europe to assess and regulate the quality of long-term care for older people, and the purpose of the German Peer Review is to enable Member States to exchange their various experiences.  

An important focus of the Peer Review will be on ensuring a quality of life that is objectively good for all residents. One of the measures used by the Government of Bavaria is support for on-the-job and off-the-job training with governmental aid of around € 1 Mio. a year. 

Key questions of the Peer Review will be how Member States actually define quality of life in residential facilities and what kind of means are used to assess this quality.  

Peer Review manager

Ms Ulrike Hiebl (ÖSB Consulting GmbH)