Solution Session on home and community-based long-term care for older people at the Second World Summit for Social Development
4 November 2025 13:00–14:30 CET / virtual event
As part of the Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha, WHO and partners are convening this 90-minute virtual Solution Session to showcase practical models and innovations in home- and community-based care for older persons, ensuring ageing in place and respecting dignity.
With global population ageing accelerating, demand for long-term care is rising rapidly. Yet many countries still rely heavily on institutional care models. Home and community-based long-term care approaches offer sustainable, equitable alternatives that enable older persons to remain in their communities while supporting social inclusion, decent work for care workers, and poverty reduction.
This virtual session builds on WHO's work through the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030) and ongoing development of global long-term care standards. Responding to Member States’ increasing request for practical guidance as they transition from institution-heavy to community-based systems, this session is to foster work to document and share specific concepts, models and evidence on home and community-based long-term care models.
The session will:
- Present country examples of integrated home and community-based long-term care models from multiple regions
- Explore key enablers including workforce, financing, technology and social protection
- Launch a cross-sectoral working group delivering to synthesize evidence and develop a framework
- Foster interactive dialogue on practical implementation challenges and solutions
This event will be co-organized by WHO, Hamad Medical Corporation (WHO Collaborating Centre for Healthy Ageing and Dementia, Qatar), International Federation on Ageing, HelpAge International, Gray Panthers NYC, joined by government officials from health and social ministries, care providers, civil society organizations, UN agencies, researchers and community organizations.