The Lancet Global Health Commission on financing primary health care: putting people at the centre

Who Cares? Attracting and Retaining Care Workers for the Elderly

This report presents the most up-to-date and comprehensive cross-country assessment of long-term care (LTC) workers, the tasks they perform and the policies to address shortages in OECD countries. It highlights the importance of improving working conditions in the sector and making care work more attractive and shows that there is space to increase productivity by enhancing the use of technology, providing a better use of skills and investing in prevention.

COVID-19 and Older Persons: A Defining Moment for an Informed, Inclusive and Targeted Response

As the world grapples with an unparalleled health crisis, POLICY BRIEF NO68 older persons have become one of its more visible victims. The pandemic spreads among persons of all ages and conditions, yet available evidence indicates that older persons and those with underlying medical conditions are at a higher risk of serious illness and death from the COVID-19 disease. This brief has presented the distinct situation of older persons during the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights how older persons encounter specifc challenges that need to be understood and integrated into policy measures related to COVID-19. 

Policy Brief: The Impact of COVID-19 on older persons

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing untold fear and suffering for older people across the world. As the virus spreads rapidly to developing countries, likely overwhelming health and social protection systems, the mortality rate for older persons could climb even higher. Efforts to protect older persons should not overlook the many variations within this category, their incredible resilience and positivity, and the multiple roles they have in society, including as caregivers, volunteers and community leaders.

COVID-19 recovery is an opportunity to set the stage for a more inclusive, equitable and age-friendly society.

Understanding pressures in general practice

“General practice is in crisis”; that is how this King’s Fund report start its analysis, pointing to funding and workforce as two of the main problems in general practice situation. Increasing needs and complexity, trends of moving patients from hospital to communities and rising expectations in population act as factors that increase pressures in general practice.

This report identifies some immediate priorities and some future challenges in order to protect general practice and to make it can face future needs.

Immediate priorities would be: (I) providing practical support to practices, (II) accelerating the uptake of technologies that can help ...

Integrated care – taking specialist medical care beyond the hospital walls

The Royal College of Physicians has published in 2016 a document titled “Integrated care -  taking specialist medical care beyond the hospital walls”.

In the first part of this document they are described some of the main topics about integrated care, how it is conceptualize and what it really implies for patients, professionals and for the whole system.

Afterwards, some study cases are shown as examples to go deeper into different dimensions of integrated care such as the need for sustainable models of integrated care, leadership, management and governance or self-management and care.

Finally, the document lists five key areas where ...

The OECD Mental Health and Work Policy Framework - Integrated services for sustainable growth

Mental health is an important driver of labour market outcomes and thus affects economic growth and future development. If labour markets are to function well, it is important that policy makers address the interplay between mental health and work, as they are slowly coming to recognise that they have long neglected an issue that is critical to people’s well-being and for contributing to sustainable economic growth. This report discusses which aspects of mental health and employment interventions must be addressed to push policy making in the right direction, namely: when to intervene, how to intervene or what to do ...