Berriak

This Thursday in Brussels, at a meeting of the European Economic and Social Committee, the Bizkaia Provincial Council presented the final report on the long-term care model for Bizkaia and Europe, Bay of Biscay, Bay of Care, which is the culmination of the process of reflection initiated two years ago by the Provincial Institution, in collaboration with AGE Platform Europe, the main European network of organisations working for the rights of the elderly.

The Provincial Deputy for Social Policy, Sergio Murillo, introduced the presentation of the document in the EU headquarters, and this was then presented by the gerontologist and demographer Sarah Harper, from the Institute of Ageing at Oxford University and advisor to the Government of the United Kingdom. Harper was head of the group of university and research experts with recognised experience and knowledge of the different European social and healthcare models who produced the report.

The presentation of the report was attended by representatives from the European academic world, WHO Europe, the European Parliament and Commission, regions, provinces and cities of Member States, NGOs, service providers in the care sector, the industrial sector and AGE Platform Europe, among others. This involved the representation of 14 European countries, in addition to the European institutions.

After the presentation of the report, representatives of the European Commission, the World Health Organisation and the European platform of service providers for people with disabilities took the floor.

Bay of Biscay, Bay of Care aims to address the current and future requirements for attending to people in need of long-term care, a challenge shared with Europe as a whole. In addition to the demographic changes in recent years, the expectations and needs of the elderly have also changed, thus generating the challenge and the need to transform the services and resources aimed at long-term care, whether these take place in residences, in day centres, at home, both informally and formally, remotely or in person, and whether they are of a social or health nature. This is a task that the Bizkaia Provincial Council considers essential in order to respond to the demographic challenge not only in quantitative terms but also in qualitative terms, from a long-term perspective and aligned with Europe.

The publication of this report comes the very day after the European Commission has released its European Care Strategy, based on which the Council of the EU is expected to adopt recommendations on long-term care that will be published in December.

Bay of Biscay, Bay of Care: main guidelines

With an introduction by the General Deputy of Bizkaia, Unai Rementeria, the final document presented this Thursday in Brussels in front of a broad European audience outlines the general guidelines for a quality care model, which include the current needs of elderly people who require assistance and long-term care. It therefore takes into account recent social and demographic changes, as well as the pandemic situation caused by Covid-19. The document is divided into 7 sections. These are:

• Section 1. Developing a vision for long-term care.
• Section 2. The need for long-term care: individuals and communities.
• Section 3. Provision: How we provide long-term care.
• Section 4. Training: What factors make long-term care possible?
• Section 5. Evaluation of the system of long-term care: How to achieve affordable, high-quality care.
• Section 6. Rethinking post-pandemic long-term care.
• Section 7. A new model for empowering long-term care.

The report expressly mentions the Transition Plan for long-term care launched in Bizkaia in 2021 as the first attempt to implement the Long-Term Care Empowerment Model, as described throughout the document.

The report Bay of Biscay, Bay of Care is available for consultation on the Bizkaia Provincial Council website.