HORIZON EUROPE FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME┋Integrated care solutions leading to better quality, person-centred long-term care and overcoming territorial inequalities in their provision

Expected Outcome

Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Increased understanding of integrated care and support solutions (within formal and informal long-term care (LTC), but also between social and healthcare) to enhance the quality of the LTC services and of the impact on informal carers and the formal care workforce from the perspective of their skills development and needs.
• Promising policy practices in LTC, in particular the potential of ICT to support integrated, person-centred approaches, analysed and policy recommendations developed.
• Policymakers at EU/national/local level are provided with evidence on territorial inequalities (e.g. rural-urban) and interdependencies, particularly in relation to gender in the need and provision of LTC and the main drivers contributing to the challenge of regional and intersectional gaps between supply of and demand for formal LTC services.

Scope

The quality of LTC is affected by a number of factors, including funding, workforce, organisation, and technology. Concerning organisation, new models of integrated care have started to emerge, which aim to structure care services around personal needs to improve user satisfaction, psychological health, and well-being.

Within many EU Member States and Associated Countries, LTC is typically funded from various sources and organised at different levels. In terms of regulation, funding and service provision, the provision of LTC services may be closely interlinked with (or be part of) policies such as those in healthcare, social care, housing and housing support services, and for people with disabilities. This horizontal division may hamper the co-ordination of care and even service provision. LTC is especially strongly interlinked with the provision of healthcare, as people with LTC needs often have healthcare needs due to multiple chronic conditions or co-morbidities. The provision of integrated care, where different professionals work closely together to address people’s healthcare and LTC needs, is thus essential. Technology can help improve the quality of LTC provision, for instance by personalising service provision, increasing users’ independence, supporting quality-assurance efforts through monitoring of service provision, remote care management, etc.

Recent reforms include establishing new services, as well as measures reinforcing the integrated delivery of care. The latter measures mostly tackle sectoral disparities between healthcare and social care by setting up co-ordination structures. They are also aimed at improving local and regional management and enhancing co-operation between different providers of homecare.

In the context of ageing societies, a key challenge is to provide adequate, accessible, and affordable formal LTC services of high quality to those who need it. The availability of formal LTC services differs greatly among EU Member States. With a large increase in demand ahead, already today many people in need of LTC services cannot access or afford them. Among the barriers to ensuring equal access to adequate LTC are geographical disparities or even shortages in supply. Differences in the use of care reflect personal preferences and differences in family structures and socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as the availability and affordability of formal LTC services. For example, effective access to care is often hindered in rural and remote areas. However, data on regional differences of LTC provision is scarce.

The role of social economy as an important player in innovative practices in care provision is often highlighted. Proposals should identify best innovative practices, including in new and emerging areas, such as platform cooperativism in the field of LTC and in regularising undeclared workers in LTC.

The call is expected to contribute to the EU Rural Vision and EU Care Strategy. Clustering and cooperation with other selected projects under this call and other relevant projects are strongly encouraged.