This discussion paper, written by the Health and Care team at the European Centre, starts with a portrayal of key challenges connected to changes in the demand and supply of long-term care (LTC). In particular, the authors highlight changes in the quantity and quality of care needs, shortages in the LTC workforce as well as unfavourable working conditions in the sector, and challenges associated with informal caregiving. Subsequently, the authors summarise and discuss how policymakers have responded to these developments over the past few decades. The authors focus on developments in the funding of LTC, attempts to attract more workers to the sector, the diffusion of person-centred and integrated care approaches, the implementation of support for informal carers, and the hopes associated with digital technologies.
Against the backdrop of the normative concept of “the caring society”, the authors advocate further effortsto develop integrated LTC systems that offer more equitable access to services and ensure the quality of life of both persons in need of care and their formal and informal carers over the life course.
