Providing appropriate, sustainable care to older people for the coming decades is a challenge that all EU member states are facing, because of demographic changes, cost containment and empowerment. An increasing number of older people have long-term, complex needs which may require support from any combination of primary, residential or acute hospital care, as well as social care and practical support.
A key solution to this challenge is integrated care – a well-planned and well-organised set of services and care processes, targeted at the multidimensional needs and problems of an individual client, or at a group of people with similar needs or problems. Members of the integrated care team work closely to offer timely detection, appropriate assessment, treatment and care, so that the older person‘s health and well-being might be significantly enhanced.
Integrating Services for Older People: A resource book for managers provides guidelines for those involved in the development of integrated care services, written by expert authors from a wide range of backgrounds, and with real-life examples from countries around Europe. Focusing on the management of integrated care at the client level, the organisation level and the system level, this book will be invaluable to managers and professionals in the health and social care field.
This resource book is produced by the CARMEN network (Care and Management of Services for Older People Network), supported by the European Commission‘s ’Quality of Life and Management of Human Resources‘ Programme.
CARMEN is the acronym for the Care and Management of Services for Older People in Europe Network. This thematic network has been managed by the European Health Management Association (EHMA) and has been funded by the European Commission under the RTD programme 'Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources 1998-2002' - Key Action: Ageing- Project number QLK6-2000-00584.
The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission.