Helsinki Finland 6 en 7 juni 2013.
Social and health care services are facing unprecedented pressures, both in Finland and across Europe. Almost all EU countries have experienced a similar post-war baby boom and it is this cohort of people in particular who are in large part changing the healthcare landscape as they approach older age and their health needs intensify. The then new generation hospitals built in 1950’s or 1960’s are well past their effective life span, and even hospitals commissioned up to the 80’s tended to repeat the design configuration of these early facilities. They are no longer sufficiently responsive or adaptable to the changing needs of current and future populations. Furthermore the same situation applies to elderly care both in terms of specific elderly care facilities and private and social housing and where deficiencies are creating new pressures, for example social isolation and difficulties in providing effective support and rehabilitation. The economic outlook will mean that the changes necessary will need to be achieved with probably less funding than is currently available, both revenue and capital. Conferentie 'Regional Health Care in 2025 - Needs and Challenges'
Different countries are developing different solutions to the same problem; there is much to learn from each other. Therefore, the Aalto University Sotera Institute, jointly with the European Centre for Healthcare Asset and Architecture (ECHA), has organized an international conference on ‘Regional Health Care in 2025 - Needs and Challenges’ to be held on 6-7. June 2013 in Helsinki. The seminar will bring together 20 top experts in Europe and whose analysis and presentations will provide a unique cross-sectional view of the latest developments in this field from across the EU. The seminar will also discuss new thinking from across Finland, with many project case studies not previously publicised. The topics and case studies overall, European and Finnish, will cover the whole health and social care spectrum ranging from large scale university teaching hospital reform through to elderly housing services integrated within the community. Presentations will include new concepts, new models of care, organizational structures and systems and new innovative principles in planning designing, financing and building new health infrastructure of all types. Integral system
Many governments are now considering major reform of healthcare as a necessary next step, in particular moving on from what has been described as a hospital-centric model of service delivery to an integrated system that improves whole systems cohesion and collaboration between the acute hospital, primary care and social care services. A notable feature of ‘change in action’ is the increasing move towards regionalization to give greater autonomy to local government and healthcare organisations to improve responsiveness and accountability for meeting these challenges. New EU legislation will also impact on healthcare systems. From October 2013 member states must implement a directive on patients rights in cross border care. This will make it easier for patients to be insured in one country and access treatment in another. Rights will also include better access to information on quality of treatment and comparison of conditions across several hospitals. The topics covered will include: The changing context of healthcare delivery How health strategies, systems and new models of care are responding to the need for reform The impact on hospital planning and architecture How change is being implemented and the new challenges for managers a