The Global Ageing Network’s Executive Director Katie Smith Sloan joined the European Ageing Network (EAN) at its biannual conference in Athens, Greece, in late September. The conference, which drew hundreds of delegates from all over Europe, Canada, Australia, the U.S., and South Africa, focused on workforce issues—the skills, competencies, and professional growth needed to support a growing population of older persons. Delegates were challenged to consider the role of the family in providing formal care, considering family as part of the care team. Speakers suggested that we need to increase the proficiencies of care workers in technology, palliative care, mental health, and dementia. In addition, enhancing soft skills like shared decision-making, emotional intelligence, and cultural competency are essential. With the growing phenomenon of robots providing care, speakers questioned whether we are losing our “value” tasks, creativity and opportunities for human connection, or if we are gaining more time when robots take over some day-to-day activities.

A workshop focused on a program in the Netherlands, DemenTalent, was an important reminder that people with dementia are still capable of learning. DemenTalent, which designs programs to connect people with dementia to volunteer opportunities, aims to grow to 50,000 participants who are active in society by 2030. A call to focus on “reablement” challenged delegates to move from “doing for” to “doing with” as not only a person-centered approach but one in which supports are “co-produced” with the user. Delegates were reminded of the importance of legal, ethical pathways to enable labor mobility.

Jiri Horecky, chair of the European Ageing Network, urged delegates to go home and fight for needed changes in organizations, in communities, and in policy. He also encouraged leaders to stay open to learning, as new learning will be the key to problem solving and innovation. We cannot solve the many challenges we face by being complacent.