Key messages
- •
Ageing will result in an increasing number of older people (ie, those aged 65 years or older) with various health problems that are more common in older than in younger people—eg, cancer, fractured hips, strokes, dementia; many of these people will have multimorbidities
- •
However, alarmist perceptions of ageing as a fundamental threat to the European welfare state are greatly overblown, and projected increases in health expenditure because of ageing are slight
- •
Countries of the European Union should not be complacent in their responses, and health care, long-term care, and welfare systems need to adapt to respond to population ageing
- •
Health systems should become more age-friendly through active health promotion and disease prevention (for older people and across the life course), enabling better self-care, ensuring capacities of health services, improving coordination of care and management of hospital admissions and discharges, and addressing the ageing of the health workforce
- •
Across the European Union, the scope for improvement of organisation and coordination of long-term care services is substantial
- •
Small increases in pensionable age (in line with increases in healthy life expectancy) could offset the effects of ageing on public pension systems, but will need to account for socioeconomic disparities