According to the United Nations projections, one in four persons living in Europe and Northern America will be aged 65 or over by 2050. In several countries this share will exceed one third of the population. The increase will be especially rapid among people aged 80 and over, who represent the majority of LTC beneficiaries. Unfortunately, many of them will be in poor health. The number of people living with dementia will also rise. Family and friends have been the most important caregivers to people with LTC needs. But migrations, declining family size and higher participation rates of women in the labour market will reduce the potential supply of informal LTC. Furthermore, many countries are already facing severe shortages of formal LTC workers – nurses and personal carers. Expenditure on LTC has been rising faster than that on general health care, and is projected to increase substantially further. Without public social protection schemes, LTC would not be affordable to many older people with care needs. Alternative financing mechanisms, such as private LTC insurance, have yet to develop sufficiently to fill the existing gap.
Conference topics
Relevant topics include but are not limited to:
- Impact of population ageing and other demographic changes on LTC;
- Attracting and retaining care workers;
- Consequences of COVID-19 on LTC;
- Impact of labour immigration and emigration on LTC;
- Pricing, affordability and equality of access to LTC;
- Healthy ageing and LTC;
- Effectiveness of social protection for LTC;
- New developments in LTC financing;
- Private vs. public financing of LTC;
- LTC expenditure projections and efficiency;
- Informal caregiving and labour market participation;
- Public finance, political economy and intergenerational aspects of LTC reforms;
- Monitoring and improving quality and safety in LTC;
- Relationship between health care and LTC;
- Improving palliative and end-of-life care.