Every individual requires care and support across the life-course, though the nature of the services and intensity may vary and generally increase with age and disability. Long-term care (LTC) services are required by people with (one or several) physical and/or mental health conditions to support them to live well. As children and young adults with disabilities are living longer, a life-course perspective is increasingly imperative when planning and delivering LTC.

This 90-minute workshop is a collaboration between IFICs Ageing and Frailty SIG and Laurel, a new European project that will consider the current economic constraints, the accessibility, affordability and quality of LTC services, workforce shortages, and the systemic reforms required in the face of the growing demand for LTC.
This interactive workshop will be of interest to policy makers, researchers, advocates, beneficiaries, carers and professionals who experience, plan, commission, fund, provide or regulate LTC services. Members of the Laurel consortium will share current perceptions, experience and expectations of older people and carers to ensure the dialogue is grounded in lived experience of people who receive LTC. Then, through the interaction with the attendees to the workshop we expect to hear other voices from regions across Europe and beyond to enrich the insights on more integrated approaches to LTC.
Participants will be invited to discuss and prioritize policy action in five main domains:
1. Lack of access to LTC and / or social protection; need for more person-centredness, coordination, prevention and community engagement. Housing and physical and digital environments
2. Disadvantages related to gender and to living in remote, rural or island areas.
3. Ageism and ableism, and policies and societal changes needed to achieve a vision where care is not an end goal but a means to help us achieve the things that matter to us, where we can continue to contribute to society and participate.
4. The role for informal carers and the level of recognition, support and empowerment that they enjoy. The cost and gender dimension of caring, and physical, emotional and financial well-being.
5. Workforce shortage, recruitment and retention strategies, and the need to improve pay and working conditions.
More information on the project in laurelproject.eu