Supported by the European Commission, a new EU partnership will foster the upskilling and reskilling of care workers and providers to improve the quality of long-term care while making the sector more attractive.
In the frame of the EU Pact for Skills, long-term care service providers, social partners and education providers have set up a large-scale skills partnership for the long-term care sector. As part of this initiative, the partners commit to training at least 60% of the long-term care workforce every year by 2030. Training courses will focus on digital skills and person-centred care.
AGE was invited at the launch event on 20 April to take part in the lively discussions.
Our colleague Philippe Seidel, Policy Manager on Social Protection and European Parliament, highlighted the need to shift long-term care towards higher quality, better support for the independence of persons in need for care and therefore the development of community-based and home care. He observed that these developments demand new skills from the care workforce, notably to better coordinate the provision of care together with the family, neighbours. Training is also needed to fill the principles of person-centredness, rehabilitation, prevention and fight against abuse and neglect with life. The increased reliance on digital and robotic tools for communication and improving working conditions also requires reskilling of many care workers.
The Partnership will welcome new organisations willing and able to contribute in the second half of 2023.
Photo by Troy Bridges on Unsplash
