EuroLTCS Project - Innovative Mechanisms for Sustainable Long-Term Care Systems in Europe

About EuroLTCS Project - Innovative Mechanisms for Sustainable Long-Term Care Systems in Europe

The project focuses on the long-term care systems in Europe and their reaction to sustainability challenges through system innovations. Aging population and austerity measures present a great challenge to the financing and provision of long-term care for elderly and chronically sick in Europe. The European governments are pressed to contain the spending on health and care services, and pharmaceuticals, as it is growing faster than the countries’ GDP. At the same time, the double aging problem in Europe (declining birth rates coupled with increasing life expectancy) and higher citizens’ expectations (resulting from better access to information) demand the provision of more, new and more expensive services, and thus more resources. It is unclear whether the European societies will choose similar paths and whether the future long-term care reforms will result in more convergent or more divergent systems. Certainly, there will be no unique solution in terms of policy design and implementation given the diversities among the countries in terms of health and care systems, country-specific regulations, workforce problems and fiscal capacities, as well as distinctive social values and culture. Different countries might respond differently to questions on who should be responsible for the care provision (the state, communities or families), and how the long-term care system should be financed and governed to assure its sustainability alongside the equity in access and social cohesion. European societies need to make choices about the future of their long-term care systems but before that they need a new perspective and evidence on good and innovative practices.

Milena Pavlova is the recipients of an AXA Award of the ​AXA Research Fund, which is used to fund this project. The content of this project description represents the views of the authors and it is their sole responsibility; it can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the ​AXA Research Fund.

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