EU countries face a common challenge: maintaining and improving the quality of elderly care while ensuring it is both accessible and financially sustainable. A peer review in Stockholm this September explored the Swedish approach to care reform, and organised a common discussion with peer countries on these topics.

© Photographee.eu, Fotolia

Host Country: Sweden

Date: 25-27 September 2013

Peer countries: Belgium - Bulgaria - Croatia - Cyprus - Czech Republic - Germany - Lithuania - Netherlands - Romania - Slovenia

Stakeholders: AGE, ESN

Population ageing and a shift towards chronic diseases at the end of life pose challenges for the sustainability of care budgets across industrialised countries.

Sweden has managed to maintain a particularly high standard of care. Experts from Sweden and ten other EU countries, as well as representatives from the European Commission and stakeholders, met in Stockholm to explore Sweden’s efforts to make care more person-centred without jeopardising long-term financial sustainability.

Lessons learned

• Assistive technology has a strong part to play. Sweden is actually pioneering designs for “inclusive housing” to enable people to stay longer in their own homes. Since technologies developed must be accessible, user-friendly and affordable, cooperation among EU countries could be one way to reduce costs.
• Actual implementation does not always require new technologies, but often a pragmatic approach to ensure the implementation of existing technologies.
• An important point is also the benefit that assistive technologies can bring in terms of quality of life. Participants welcomed the idea of creating a European network of national institutes and agencies capable of assessing the benefits of new technical solutions and innovative care practices.
• The need for a shift from a culture of care to one of rehabilitation was identified. Informal care is set to become increasingly important and will require support.
• Better statistics on long-term care and quality registries (which track individual treatment outcomes) should be developed, with a genuinely holistic approach going beyond purely clinical data.
• Data sharing policies must also be clearly defined and agreed – both legally and politically – by all stakeholders involved.

Peer Review manager

Ms Ulrike Hiebl (ÖSB Consulting GmbH)