A transnational view on Home Care Services

Mutamento Sociale n.28 - October 2010

In its Communication on “services of general interest, including social services of general interest: a new European commitment”, the European Commission announced a strategy for supporting the quality of Social Services of General Interest (SSGI) across the European Union. The strategy was an answer to the increasing interest among public authorities and stakeholders in enhancing SSGI quality.

In the light of the socio-demographic evolution of European population, the Social Services of General Interest will constitute the main tool to face the emerging needs of old non self sufficient people. According on it, in 2008 the European Commission financed eight transnational projects under the Progress programme 2007-2013. “Quality Care for Quality Aging” (QCQA) is one of these.

QCQA project promoted an interdisciplinary transnational workgroup, made up by member organizations coming from 7 European countries (Italy, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece and Spain) and aimed to develop a tool (indicators) useful for the evaluation of quality in Home Care (HC) services in Europe.
The project is aimed to develop a tool (indicators) useful for the evaluation of quality in HC services across Europe and promotes the development of networks of actors working in this field across countries, through the implementation of exchanges and the diffusion of good practices of quality assessment and monitoring in Home Care.

The target of the project is public and private Home Care formal services (both social assistance and social and health services), targeted to non self sufficient individuals aged 65 and over.

The project started at the beginning of 2009: after a deep analysis of the national and local context of the Long Term Care (LTC) and, more specifically, of the Home Care (HC) systems, for each Country partner involved in the operational activities of the project, at least one existing good practice of quality assessment and monitoring in Home Care was selected and deeply analysed by each Country partner using the case study technique. In the meanwhile, some brainstorming about the concepts and the dimensions of quality was carry out among the transnational partners in several meetings.These preliminary activities lead the partnership to develop a set of quality indicators in home care, according to a bottom up approach in the light of the initiatives in the field of Open Method Coordination of the European Commission.
The first version of the set of indicators was tested in the Local Health and Social Authority nr. 10 of the Veneto Region (LHSA10).
The main results of the project were presented in Brussels on 2010 the 29 June and in some national meetings.

This newsletter is focused on this project and on topic of quality in long term care services.

* Head of Health District of Azienda ULSS10 Veneto Orientale and QCQA project manager.