Executive Summary

The ageing society imposes substantial demands on towns and municipalities. An innovative social compensation and infrastructure plan must be developed to prepare them for the shifting age of their population. Conventional strategies are characterised by the coexistence of different unaffiliated planning departments which can barely cope with the complexity of constant social change. Instead, inter-departmental discourses concerning appropriate analysis and planning structures are necessary, in which citizens should be actively involved.

Firstly, strategies must be devised in order to slow down the trend of an over-ageing society. Important parameters which affect the progression of local population structures have to be explored, and methods on how to influence such factors need to be established. Secondly, specific problems, caused by future demographic changes, have to be addressed and resolved.

Strategic planning efforts need to be based on reliable data and systematic monitoring in order to convey local development trends at a small scale. Thereby, it is by no means indisputable which indicators are meaningful regarding their prognostic purpose and need to be observed. The availability of meaningful data and the resources to evaluate such may be especially problematic in local authority districts.

Even the geriatric care will have to be transformed due to demographic trends. The demand for assistance and support will increase exceedingly within the following decades. At the same time, the capacity of family and private care networks is expected to decrease. Thus, the question on how to address and finance shifting nursing demands arises. Structural changes are required and have been rudimentarily approached. They involve increased networking between various facilities for the elderly as well as care providers and efficient internal organisation. Voluntary commitment of initiatives and individuals is an integral part in the service provision process. It seems to be the only way to define a service portfolio according to relevant needs and demands and to ensure adequate social participation of the elderly population.

If, under recent and future circumstances, care dependency has to be understood and defined differently, a context-specific discussion should evolve within the scope of further interdisciplinary endeavours. However, in the future, the main focus will shift to prevention and rehabilitation, as the main objectives of geriatric care. A homogeneity of physical.

Scope of the task force:

In 2009/10 professional discourses are planned on the following areas of interest:

● Innovative local development planning

● Dementia in the community - experiences with supply networks

● Structural changes og geriatric care

Also refer to some of our completed projects regarding the topic and the Newsletter „ISS informiert“ 2/2009.

Your contact person at ISS-Frankfurt a.M

Publications

Brigitte Rehling, Marion Menke, u.a.: Teil B des Leitfadens zur praktischen Umsetzung des Referenzkonzepts: Qualitäts- und Organisationsentwicklung – Hinweise für den Ergebnistransfer.

Brigitte Rehling u.a.: Vom Referenzmodell zum Referenzkonzept. Teilbericht 3 der Abschlussberichte der beteiligten Institute.