The European Union (EU) has one of the oldest populations in the world. In response to this situation, the 2019-2024 Commission has acknowledged the need for policies addressing ageing and its impact on various policy areas giving a mandate to Vice-President Dubravka Šuica on Democracy and Demography. This mandate has put the EU at the forefront of international policy initiatives addressing the implications of ageing across various policy domains such as territorial cohesion, talent and skills in the labour market, as well as health and long-term care.
The increase in the proportion of older individuals, particularly those aged 65 and over, in the total population, combined with changing epidemiological trends, improved socio-economic conditions, leads to an increased demand for health services, as older individuals typically require more medical attention. This higher demand for care can put additional strain on healthcare systems and resources, impacting families, communities and the workforce.
Additionally, an ageing workforce can lead to a shrinking labour force as fewer people of working age are available to replace retiring workers. This may result in labour shortages. As a result of these trends, EU Member States face an unprecedented challenge in providing care and health services to an ageing population and keeping health expenditures under control. This challenge can be addressed by carefully planning the healthcare workforce needed to meet the needs of an ageing population.
Planning a health workforce that has the size to satisfy the demand for health services is, however, a challenging task due to the numerous and often interrelated factors at play, such as demographic changes in the population, migration of health professionals, policies on education, recruitment and retention.
Objectives
The objective of this Science-for-Policy dialogue is to create a collective understanding among stakeholders about demography, ageing and care provision. In particular, the key objectives are to:
- Facilitate stakeholder engagement: between scientific experts and regional, national and EU policymakers and to stimulate dialogue around healthcare workforce shortages, skills opportunities and sustainable care provision in an ageing society.
- Facilitate dissemination of knowledge: provide the participants of the seminar with an opportunity to share knowledge on health, ageing and long-term care.
Agenda
10:30-10:45
Opening:
Speaker: Fabiana Scapolo (Head of Unit JRC E5 Demography and Migration)
Introductory remarks:
Speaker: Matthias Oel (Director JRC.E Societal, Resilience and Security)
Speaker: Marco Marsella (Director SANTE.C Digital, EU4Health and Health Systems Modernisation)
10:45-11:00
Presentation:
SANDEM Health workforce projections in EU 2021-2071
Speaker: Fabrizio Natale (Project Leader JRC E5 Demography and Migration)
11:00-11:45
Panel discussion:
1. Healthcare workforce shortages in a bigger picture (Health at the Glance chapter on health workforce)
Speaker: Gaetan Lafortune (Senior Economist, OECD Health Division)
2. Skills opportunities and challenges in the health sector
Speaker: Jiri Branka (Expert skills trends and intelligence, Department for VET and Skills, CEDEFOP)
3. HEROES Joint Action: stronger capacities for health workforce planning
Speaker: Eszter Kovacs (Assistant Professor Semmelweis University)
4. Use of health workforce planning in policies at national level
Speaker: Lisa Baldini (Project Manager, Italian National Agency for Regional Healthcare Services)
Moderator: Dirk van den Steen (Deputy Head of Unit SANTE C2 State of Health, European Semester, Health Technology Assessment)
11:45-12:40
Presentations:
1. Health of older Europeans – learning from the SHARE data
Speaker: Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak (Vice Rector for Research and Director of the Institute of Statistics and Demography at SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Acting Managing Director of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE))
2. Education, work and health in older age
Speaker: Arnstein Aassve (Professor in Demography at Bocconi University, Milan, Chair of the Advisory Board of the “Population Europe Policy Lab”, Coordinator of the project “Towards a resilient future of Europe” (FutuRes), funded by the Horizon Europe programme of the European Union)
3. Positive Demography: A New Perspective on Population Ageing
Speaker: Daniele Vignoli (Professor of Demography at Florence University, Scientific Coordinator of the Research Program Age-It (Ageing Well in an Ageing Society), funded by NRRP, Scientific Director of the PhD Program in “Life Course Research”, President of the Italian Association for Population Studies)
4. Care Sustainability in an Ageing Society
Speaker: Cecilia Tomassini (Professor of Demography at Molise University, Scientific Coordinator for Molise University and member of the Board of Directors of the Research Program Age-It (Ageing Well in an Ageing Society), funded by NRRP, Past-president of the Italian Association for Population Studies)
Reflection on presentations, Q&A, plenary discussion on the way forward
Moderator: Fabiana Scapolo (Head of Unit JRC E5 Demography and Migration)
12:40-12:45
Concluding remarks:
Speaker: Fabiana Scapolo (Head of Unit JRC E5 Demography and Migration)
How to participate
The session will be online and addressed to experts in the field of health systems and long-term care.
Should you wish to participate please write an e-mail to EC-KCMD@ec.europa.eu