The crisis generated as a result of the syndemic caused by COVID-19 –especially in the field of care for the elderly– has highlighted the urgent need to address a process of transformation in the long-term care system and in the resources and services that support it. This implies reviewing the coverage rates and priorities among resources, their quality, the working conditions of professionals, their training and, above all, taking into account the vision, needs, desires and preferences of older people who need support and care, as well as their family environment.

While in recent years there has been little but solid and sustained growth in home and residential services aimed at this population group, evaluations of their quality and degree of satisfaction among the people who use them show significant deficiencies and a certain rejection among its potential users.

In the Spain 2021 Report of the José María Martín Patino Chair, which preceded this joint initiative with the Ramón Areces Foundation, a set of dimensions were identified that require an urgent cultural change in the long-term care model that facilitates the reformulation of its conceptual framework, approaching ecosystemic, integrated and territorialized, community-based approaches, in which the protagonists of this process ‒users, family caregivers and professionals‒ have the opportunity to build better responses to growing needs. All this from the ethical approach of people-centered care, which forces us to rethink essential aspects of care that guarantee their dignity and maximum autonomy.

In this context, this Conference is being held, whose main objective is to share, analyze and compare international experiences in the provision of services to people in situations of fragility or dependency, trends, scientific evidence on the effectiveness and efficiency of one and the other and, In short, to identify strategic lines that facilitate future care planning.

The second part of this meeting focuses on residential care, undoubtedly the most questioned resource in the care system, among other reasons due to its strong institutional character and, consequently, its distance from the usual daily life of the people who care for it. use. A matter of the utmost importance, given that an irreversible process of deinstitutionalization and transformation of residences is underway, moving closer to more home-like and normalized models.

For this we have the participation of leading professionals in the world, Europe and Spain with whom we can share concerns and ideas, which will make this day a reference event.