A promising approach in comparative research on care for the elderly

Long-term care (LTC) in the form of care provided in nursing homes, homes for the aged and home care is considered an appropriate answer to the growing needs of the aging populations of the industrialized world. However, the provision of and expenditures on LTC vary considerably between these industrialized countries. Although one would expect LTC to be subject to many internationally comparative studies, including all European countries, this is not the case. A paper presented by Damiani et al. in BMC Health Services Research contains an internationally comparative model regarding the development of LTC in Europe (2003 to 2007). They achieve an intriguing compromise between depth and width in the sparsely populated domain of internationally comparative research on LTC by characterizing countries' LTC and interpreting the large north/south differences found. Their results also show that 'cash for care' schemes form a substantial alternative to traditional LTC provision. An additional time series analysis showed that many countries seem to be engaged in reorganizing the LTC sector. This study widens knowledge in a neglected area of health services research and should serve as a source of inspiration for further studies

Informal and formal reconciliation strategies of older peoples’ working carers: the European carers@work project

Faced with a historically unprecedented process of demographic ageing, many European societies implemented pension reforms in recent years to extend working lives. Although aimed at rebalancing public pension systems, this approach has the unintended side effect that it also extends the number of years in which working carers have to juggle the conflicting demands of employment and caregiving. This not only impinges on working carers’ well-being and ability to continue providing care but also affects European enterprises’ capacity to generate growth which increasingly relies on ageing workforces. The focus of this paper will thus be a cross-national comparison of individual reconciliation strategies and workplace-related company policies aimed at enabling working carers to reconcile both conflicting roles in four different European welfare states: Germany, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom

European postgraduate curriculum in geriatric medicine developed using an international modified Delphi technique

the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS-GMS) recommendations for training in Geriatric Medicine were published in 1993. The practice of Geriatric Medicine has developed considerably since then and it has therefore become necessary to update these recommendations.under the auspices of the UEMS-GMS, the European Geriatric Medicine Society (EuGMS) and the European Academy of Medicine of Ageing (EAMA), a group of experts, representing all member states of the respective bodies developed a new framework for education and training of specialists in Geriatric Medicine using a modified Delphi technique. Thirty-two expert panel members from 30 different countries participated in the process comprising three Delphi rounds for consensus. The process was led by five facilitators.the final recommendations include four different domains: General Considerations on the structure and aim of the syllabus as well as quality indicators for training (6 sub-items), Knowledge in patient care (36 sub-items), Additional Skills and Attitude required for a Geriatrician (9 sub-items) and a domain on Assessment of postgraduate education: which items are important for the transnational comparison process (1 item).the current publication describes the development of the new recommendations endorsed by UEMS-GMS, EuGMS and EAMA as minimum training requirements to become a geriatrician at specialist level in EU member states

Carers talking Interviews with family carers of older, dependent people in the European Community

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:OP-EC/3247 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

A multi-centre European study of factors affecting the discharge destination of older people admitted to hospital:analysis of in-hospital data from the ACMEplus project

to examine the relationship between seven predictor variables (recorded on Day 3 of hospital admission) and discharge destination in non-elective medical patients aged 65+ years