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Marinela and Wim van den Heuvel

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We were working on a proposal for the EU on ‘long-term care of the elderly’. This proposal for a collaborative project is written by a consortium and is be submitted on 18 September 2007. We expect to receive the first evaluation in December 2007.

The consortium includes the University of Bergen, Norway (Prof. S. Husebo), Cardiff University, United Kingdom (Dr. W. Tadd), Gerontology Centre Prague, Czech republic (Dr. I. Holmerova) and Fundacio Hosital Asil de Granollers Barcelona, Spain (Dr. S. Arino-Blasco) and ofcourse Marinela and Wim. The deadline to submit the proposal is 18th September 2007. The call asks for the development and validation of a methodology to analyse the provision of long-term care across European health systems. Also it is proposed to develop a model that ensures quality of services, provides incentives for prevention and rehabilitation, supports informal care providers, and adequately links to health care services.

A variety of long-term care (LTC) arrangements exists to care for frail older people. Care arrangements, quality of care and costs of care for the frail raise new problems in Europe. Investments in research and tools to measure and analyse care provision in Europe lag behind those in the USA. It is not only investments that lag behind. Many frail older people have to stay in inappropriate care settings, such as acute hospitals. This affects their quality of life and dignity, and leads to high costs and unnecessary use of medical technology. With a new methodology LTC provision may be bench marked at the European level and a described model will offer information for various stakeholders to improve the LTC provision in the EU.

First, Elysium will develop and validate of a tool for comparison of LTC provision at European level. A systematic literature review identifies indicators for the tool; these will be classified in Elysium’s’ conceptual frame work. Next these indicators will be verified and agreed on through Delphi and consensus meeting. An inventory of LTC provision in EU is needed to validate the indicators and to construct the tool.

Second, Elysium describes a model for LTC that meets four criteria: ensures quality of services, delivers incentives for prevention and rehabilitation, supports informal care and fits in existing health systems. Factors in LTC that contribute to the criteria will be identified through a literature review. Consensus on the classified factors will realised among relevant stake holders. A model is presented, which meets the criteria and classified factors.

Third, the outcomes are disseminated to relevant stake holders (client groups, policymakers, providers, regulators, financers, researchers), to enable them to better organise LTC provision for older people.