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COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
Brussels, 21 September 2009
13443/09
SOC 525 SAN 234
NOTE
from : to :
Subject :
General Secretariat
The Social Questions Working Party
Healthy and dignified ageing = Draft Council Conclusions
Delegations will find attached draft Council Conclusions, as suggested by the Presidency, with a view to the meeting of the Social Questions Working Party on 28 September 2009.
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Healthy and Dignified ageing Draft Council Conclusions
The Council of the European Union, RECALLING
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1.that according to Article 137 of the EC Treaty, the Council may adopt measures designed to encourage cooperation between the Member States in order to promote social protection, excluding any harmonization of the laws and regulations of the Member States;
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2.that according to Article 152 of the EC Treaty, the Community shall encourage cooperation between the Member States in the areas of Public Health and, if necessary, lend support to their action;
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3.the common values and principles in EU health systems adopted by the Council on 2nd June 2006, and particularly the overarching values of universality, access to good quality care, equity and solidarity;
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4.the Council resolution on opportunities and challenges of demographic change in Europe, the contribution of older people to economic and social development (2007), which emphasized the need to increase the possibilities of active participation by older people;
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5.the outcomes of the European Commission’s conference on Protecting the Dignity of Older Persons on 17 March 2008 which acknowledged that protecting the dignity of the frail elderly is becoming a major challenge for European societies and identified healthy, active and dignified aging as an important topic of further discussions, exchange of experience and good practices at European level for the coming years;
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6.the pilot project funded by the European Union on preventing elder abuse following an initiative from the European Parliament (2009), which shall identify possible ways for monitoring elder abuse across the EU through public health and long-term care systems and identifying examples of good practice;
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7.the outcomes of the conference "Europe against Alzheimer disease" held during the French Presidency on 30-31 October 2008 which proposed a European commitment to tackle the scientific, health and social dimensions of the disease;
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8.the outcomes of the conference on the Dignity and Hazard of the Elderly held during the Czech Presidency on 25-26 May 2009 according to which dignity in old age should be recognized in terms of a combination of medical, psychological and social factors and where it was stressed that coordination between health and social care services should be improved;
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9.the Council conclusions on public health strategies to combat neurodegenerative diseases and in particular the Alzheimer disease, as adopted by the Council on 17 December 2008;
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10.the Council conclusions on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men: Active and Dignified ageing, as adopted by the Council on 8 June 2009;
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11.the Council conclusions on Social Services as a tool for active inclusion, strengthening social cohesion and an area for job opportunities, as adopted by Council on 8 June 2009.
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12.the outcomes of the conference on healthy and dignified ageing on 15-16 September 2009 according to which the Member States have a lot to learn from each other and an enhanced cooperation between the health and social sectors is needed at the EU-level as well as between and within the Member States in order to promote a healthy and dignified ageing in the European Union.
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT
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13.the report from the European Cooperation Project “Healthy Ageing”: “Healthy Ageing – A challenge for Europe” (2007);
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14.the Commission White Paper “Together for health: a strategic approach for the EU 2008-2013”1 stressing the need to promote good health throughout a person’s life cycle in an ageing Europe;
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15.the Commission communication “Dealing with the impact of an ageing population in the EU (2009 ageing report)2;
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16.the Commission communication on “Alzheimer disease and other dementias” setting out actions to help minimize the burden of these conditions in our ageing societies;
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17.the cooperation carried out within the framework of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) involving exchange of experiences and best practices in the field of elderly care aiming notably at ensuring the social inclusion of all and an access for all to high quality and sustainable health and long term care, and the voluntary Quality Framework for social services which is to be developed within the Social Protection Committee with the support of the Commission.
ACKNOWLEDGES THAT
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18.organizing and financing elderly care is a national competence to be performed in conformity with the applicable Community rules. However, since all Member States face common challenges in this area, the Open Method of Coordination has proven to be a useful tool for the exchange of good experiences and mutual learning in order to promote policy development in the Member States;
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19.the fact that life expectancy has increased in the Member States is a positive result of the major economic, social, public health and medical progress which has been experienced by our societies. Nevertheless, in late life, ageing results in an increasing risk of physical or mental diseases leading to an increased dependency on relatives, friends and professionals;
COM (2007) 630 final COM (2009) 180 final
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20.an ageing population represents a challenge to sustainable public finances, and in particular to sustainable financing of healthcare and of long-term care since health care for elderly women and men amounts to over 50 % of the health care budget of the EU Member States and that figure is expected to rise in line with the growing number of older persons in our societies;
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21.the demographic development and the increasing needs and complexity in the life situations of frail older persons call for the development of new methods and of an enhanced cooperation both within and between Member States involving stakeholders such as representatives of the Civil Society in order to meet the forthcoming needs in a dignified way. This will be all the more important in times of economic slowdown and increased budgetary constraints;
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22.it is likely that demographic developments will result in shortages of staff with adequate skills for the care sector in the coming years. Around Europe there are good examples on how working methods that focus on dignity and include cooperation across professional boundaries can make work in the care sector more attractive. With life long learning and capacity building ensuring the high quality of services, such working methods will enhance the quality of life for persons who benefit from such care and make the care more efficient;
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23.the cooperation and interaction between the health and social sectors in care services will contribute to an improved quality of life for individuals and financial gains for society;
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24.the Civil Society as an important actor and partner in the work to promote a healthy and dignified ageing.
EMPHASISES THAT
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25.improved cooperation between the social and health sectors is needed at EU-level and within the Member States in order to maintain and enhance dignity in elderly care in the European Union;
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26.dignity in elderly care means that the needs of the individual are in focus. This requires coordination and cooperation between care providers, organisations and central and local authorities;
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27.Alzheimer and other neuro-degenerative diseases affect the individual as well as relatives and friends. Therefore, there is an increased need to develop the support to informal or family carers;
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28.the growing proportion of older people in Europe makes it more important than ever to promote a healthier ageing as well as efficiency and quality in services. Leading an active and social life with physical activity and proper nutrition from younger ages is an important prerequisite for healthy ageing with gains for the individual and society through delayed illness. Healthier ageing and more efficient services will lead to reduced costs for care that could partially offset the financial impact of demography in the health and social sectors;
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29.it is necessary to exchange views, experiences and good practices at Community, national and local levels on policies to promote healthy and dignified ageing in order to improve the efficiency and quality of elderly care and to identify obstacles and facilitators in achieving that objective;
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30.indicators are needed at Community, national and regional levels, in order to monitor developments in the Member States with respect to policies aimed at maintaining a proper health condition until old age and developing appropriate quality care. These should allow developing new pathways in order to improve quality and dignity in elderly care. Good examples and experiences can inspire Member States in stepping up the development of elderly care and extend the range of available analytical tools in this field;
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31.a healthy and dignified ageing will also have to include a gender dimension taking into account the specific needs of both women and men and particularly the informal care responsibilities that mainly fall on women and the relatively higher exposition of women to poverty in old age.
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INVITES THE MEMBER STATES
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32.to continue to make the issue of healthy and dignified ageing a priority for the coming years;
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33.to adopt an approach that shifts focus towards preventive measures as a strategy to improve quality of life and reduce the burden of chronic diseases;
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34.to address the looming workforce shortages in the health and social services sectors and the ageing of this workforce through life long learning, the development of professional skills and the implementation of working methods that make work in the care sector more attractive;
INVITES THE COMMISSION
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35.to draw up an action plan to promote dignity, health and quality of life for older persons, including appropriate benchmarks and indicators, to be presented during 2011;
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36.to support future actions to promote healthy and dignified ageing at Community, national and local levels;
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37.to pursue the implementation of the Health Strategy and its objective of fostering good health in an ageing Europe while applying a cross-sectoral approach involving the social and health sectors, with the support of the Working Party on Public Health at Senior Level.
INVITES THE MEMBER STATES AND THE COMMISSION
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38.to consider how to deepen the cooperation within the European Union to promote a healthy and dignified ageing by using the potential and instruments offered by the Open Method of Coordination on social protection and social inclusion, which is particularly useful to ensure cross-sector cooperation between experts both in the health and social sectors, as well as, where appropriate, in the research and economic fields; to include the results of these considerations in the design of the work programme of the Social Protection Committee for 2010 and subsequent years;
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39.to put a special focus on healthy and dignified ageing in the Joint Reports on Social Protection and Social Inclusion starting with the 2011 Joint Report.
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