Long-Term Care Quality Assurance Policies in the European Union

Abstract:
This report analyses the quality assurance policies for long-term care (LTC) in the following countries: Austria, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The authors first discuss quality assurance in LTC by analysing: the dimensions of quality, the policy frameworks for quality in LTC, the different levels of development of LTC quality policies at the international, national, organisational, and individual levels. Second, they describe the methodology for collecting and analysing data on quality policies in the selected countries, and report and discuss the results. Policy recommendations are proposed at the end.