Partners and external guests had the opportunity to reflect on challenges and opportunities for reforming long-term care systems during a specific mutual learning session of the final conference. Person-Centered Care (PCC) promotion, developing training, and enhancing the quality of services were identified as the three main axes where progress can be strategically pursued.

While recognizing that implementing PCC involves overcoming deeply entrenched representations and practices, participants highlighted several approaches to reaching stakeholders effectively. Engaging actors from the start in the design process can help them gain a deeper understanding and develop a sense of ownership over the necessary changes. Additionally, creating awareness about PCC among care users, leveraging digital platforms might empower individuals to advocate for their own care within PCC framework.

Participants also identified a series of opportunities that could fuel the implementation of PCC. First, the alignment of PCC with basic human rights was recognized as a powerful foundation for its adoption. Additionally, the existing networking within social and care services across Europe provides a fertile ground for PCC’s development. The changing profile of the older population, characterized by higher levels of education, also asks for a shift towards a more efficient and more person-centered approach that meets the evolving demands of well-informed care users.  The COVID-19 pandemic, which revealed vulnerabilities in our long-term care systems provided another push towards integrated care models.

Training was unanimously considered as the cornerstone of a successful long-term care reform, yet too often overlooked. Training offer remains fragmented and insufficient; it should become a coherent standard across LTC provision. Participating in training should bring tangible benefits to carers, including certification of skills and validation likely to facilitate professional mobility and boost the attractivity of care work. It should also be designed as a space for mutual exchange and peer support, strengthening carers’ well-being, and easily accessible to all including through online platforms. Training should be offered to informal carers as part of comprehensive support packages including respite care and financial support. Trade Unions and employers in the care sector should join a common and consistent effort to strengthen skills.

Looking at the needed improvement of quality in LTC, participants first highlighted the importance of direct contact with people concerned at the assessment time and throughout case management. They agreed that relevant information on care services should be centralized and made easily accessible through identified contact points. Quality management was deemed essential to ensure regular monitoring and adaptation of services to people’s needs.  Participants insisted also on the role of public authorities in the follow-up of the entire implementation of quality in LTC, against the background of a comprehensive legal background covering all key aspects of care delivery (needs assessment, workforce, qualification of caregivers, identification and support of informal carers…).