8.Y.1. PechaKucha: Use of health care services and securing the service system as the population ages

Population ageing and longevity are major trends that affect public health and social and health care systems. On average, the older people are, the more they have chronic conditions such as dementia, multimorbidity, and functional and cognitive decline, which require the use of different health care services. This workshop presents topical research findings on older people's health care service use, studied with different research methods and extensive datasets, and discusses the future challenges in providing adequate services for all. Our workshop highlights the diverse care needs and explores the use and the factors behind the use of health care among the older population. Even though the diverse care needs of older people are increasingly recognised, the attention often focuses on older people's services, i.e., the services whose main user groups consist of older people. These usually include home care services, auxiliary services, and long-term care facilities. However, the diverse care needs of older people include the need for different types of health care services, which are used by people in all age groups, such as hospital care, outpatient health care services, and emergency care. Services may not necessarily meet the diverse needs of the older population in a situation where both financial and human resources are limited. From the perspective of service providers, challenges arise when people have multiple or extensive service needs. Coordination and integration of services to promote the use of scarce resources according to multiple needs is challenging. From the perspective of individuals, the service system can appear fragmented, and it can be difficult to access the services that would be most beneficial. To promote adequate and effective health and social care use, we need more information about the factors contributing to different care use profiles. Our objective is to explore how ageing of population and increase in the number of people with chronic conditions is reflected in the use of various health care services and discuss how the needs and use as well as the organisation of health and social care services will develop in the future, as the number of very old people in Europe is estimated to more than double by 2050. We will focus on the use of health care services by different groups, such as people with dementia, people with multimorbidity, and cognitive decline. We will discuss how services should be developed and organised so that, as service needs grow and resources remain scarce, we can provide the older population with adequate services, which are a crucial part of the tasks of the welfare states. We add to the discussion on how different datasets, including registry-based data, could be utilised even more innovatively in research on health care services. The studies presented at the workshop utilise extensive Finnish and Swedish research data, analysed with different and novel statistical methods. Key messages • In terms of the adequacy of health and social care services, it is paramount to acknowledge that population ageing will increase the need for health care services, not only social and long-term care. • To better respond to future care needs with well-coordinated services, we need up-to-date and comprehensive research on the different older health care service user groups.