The Special Interest Group on Quality Improvement in Long Term Care aims to bring together academics, policy makers, care professionals, care users, service providers and regulators who are interested in knowledge exchange on quality improvement in long term care.

Ensuring high quality of care in long term care settings is challenging. The ambition is for care to support people as well as possible, given their complex long-term needs. This encompasses the provision of physical and psychosocial care and support, but also a strong focus on person-centredness and quality of life. From this perspective, aspects such as autonomy, dignity, comfort, and meaningful activities and relationships are important. Common strategies for stimulating quality improvement by defining and meeting standards are not sufficient, it is important to arrange professional, organisational and policy processes and conditions related to learning and quality improvement.

The purpose of this special interest group is to contribute towards the paradigms and approaches for quality improvement in long-term care, taking into account its contextual, objective ànd subjective nature.

The group will facilitate discussion, exchange practical experiences and provide networking opportunities among stakeholders involved in quality improvement, research and (policy) development. The group will build up a repository of materials, articles, and good practices (inspiration). The group will organise three to four webinars and exchange meetings annually to facilitate engagement of its members with different stakeholders in the field.

Steering group

Bellis van den Berg (Expert in monitoring and impact in Long term care, Centre of expertise for care and support, Vilans, the Netherlands)

Henk Nies (Emeritus endowed professor of Organisation and Policy Development in Long-term Care at the Vrije University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands)

Stephania Ilinca (WHO), Technical Officer Long-term Care, WHO European Office; Senior Atlantic Fellow Global Brain Health Institute