Workshop: Care4Care: the migrant care workforce in Europe

Abstract

Abstract Background Foreign trained health workers increasingly fill the care gaps caused by labour market shortage and governance failures. As doctors, nurses and carers they make a crucial contribution to health system performance and the health of the population. These contributions are likely to increase in future, especially in high-income countries, where demographic change and NCDs reinforce the gap between demand for care and labour market supply. However, health system demands for migrant carers do not sit easily with the new wave of nationalism and populist movements in Europe and globally; they may also reinforce the ‘care drain’ in less well-resourced sending countries. There is an urgent need for more inclusive health workforce governance in order to take ‘care’ for the migrant health workforce both nationally and globally and ensure ‘health for all’. Objectives This workshop addresses these questions and fosters critical debate. It has three major aims: to make the migrant carers visible as important part of the health workforce and health system performance, to unmask the threats of growing nationalism and populist movements to healthcare systems and universal healthcare coverage, and finally to critically discuss how to govern the migrant care workforce in ways that improve both integration in the host country and solidarity across Europe and globally. The workshop brings together knowledge and expertise from the areas of health workforce, health services, and health policies and systems. It is organised as round table discussion, facilitated by an overview of migrant care workforce patterns and policies in selected European Union (EU) high-income countries and two in-depth country cases, namely Italy and Austria, both known for growing populism and nationalism and strong anti-migrant policies in the EU. The three panelists will discuss the role of migrant care workers and explore, from different perspectives, how to build capacity for new forms of health workforce governance that move beyond narrowly defined national/regional interests of health systems. The workshop will foster a wider debate on migrant careers and health workforce needs, and how public health can contribute to better take ‘care’ for the human resources for health. Key messages Migrant carers form an important part of the health workforce in European countries. Health systems must take care of the migrant health workforce and counteract growing nationalism.