The Barcelona declaration on bridging knowledge in long-term care and support. Barcelona (Spain), March 7, 2009

Liz Mestheneos,Jordi Balot,Germain Weber,Josep Solans,And Participants At The Conference,Luk Zelderloo,Martin Knapp,Franz Wolfmayr,Luis Salvador-Carulla,David Mcdaid,Anne-Sophie Parent

doi:10.5334/ijic.521

Abstract

We, organisers and participants of the 1st European conference on ‘Bridging Knowledge in Long-Term Care and Support: Crossing Boundaries between Disabilities and Ageing’, funded by the Executive Agency for Health and Consumers (EAHC) and held in Barcelona, Spain, 5–7 March 2009, acknowledge the importance and relevance of knowledge transfer between the fields of disability and ageing for the European Union, its Member States, stakeholders and citizens.

Highlights

Organisers and participants of the 1st European conference on ‘Bridging Knowledge in Long-Term Care and Support: Crossing Boundaries between Disabilities and Ageing’, funded by the Executive Agency for Health and Consumers (EAHC) and held in Barcelona, Spain, 5–7 March 2009, acknowledge the importance and relevance of knowledge transfer between the fields of disability and ageing for the European Union, its Member States, stakeholders and citizens. Throughout this recommendation the term ‘Long-Term Care and Support’ (LTC/S) refers to formal care and informal care provided to persons with any long-standing health condition which significantly and persistently impairs functioning in daily life
Ageing and disabilities have shifted from marginal areas of health and social care to a central position in support and care delivery in Europe
There is a need for a political stand to make bridging and knowledge transfer key components of any programme in the fields of disability and ageing

Summary

We recognise that:

During the years over 15 million persons with disabilities will enter old age in Europe; and a similar number of older people will become disabled In spite of their diversity, care and support for children and adults with disabilities face many challenges similar to those faced by ageing people, and the care models, the assessment procedures or the interventions developed for one population group may provide useful experiences for another. Ageing and disabilities have shifted from marginal areas of health and social care to a central position in support and care delivery in Europe. Both areas share a common care framework characterised by person-centered and integrative or holistic care based as much as possible in the community and the municipality, under the principle of individual choice

We agree that:

We therefore invite: