Rethinking long-term care policy in the face of EU demographic shifts

Expected Outcome:Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:Evaluate the effectiveness and resilience of existing long term-care (LTC) policies at national and regional levels.Provide policy makers with scientific knowledge and data for evidence-informed policies to address the rising demand for affordable, accessible and high-quality long-term care, with the focus on efficient use of resources, including human, financial and technological.Propose new policy solutions to address rising long-term care needs and to ensure smooth (in)formal care transitions, including from the perspective of active and healthy ageing policies and the development of integrated care service provision at local level. Scope:In the EU, the number of people with long-term care needs is projected to increase in the future. In 2070, this number is expected to be 21% higher than in 2020.This increase is largely due to the acceleration of population ageing and also relates to higher needs for palliative care. At the same time, many Member States already struggle to meet all the long-term care needs now due to workforce shortages, which are likely to aggravate in future as the long-term care workforce is itself ageing and the sector is not attractive due to difficult working conditions, limited career development pathways and low professional standards.Scientific evidence from research and innovation (including from SSH disciplines) is needed to help address the increasing demand for long-term care in the EU in the context of shrinking labour resources and increasing pressures on public and private budgets.In line with the European Care Strategy and complementing the activities of the European Partnership on Transforming Health and Care Systems[1], proposals should:evaluate the effectiveness of existing national/regional long-term care policies in terms of meeting the current long-term care needs through sufficient and adequately skilled long-term care workers, making f