WHO Presents First Proposed Global Standards for Long-Term Care
The proposed framework seeks to improve dignity, safety, staffing and accountability in services supporting older people at home, in communities and in residential facilities.
GENEVA — The World Health Organization has presented its draft Global Standards for Long-Term Care during an international webinar held today.
WHO describes the draft as the first global framework intended to guide how long-term care for older people is planned, provided, monitored and improved. The organisation estimates that approximately two-thirds of people who reach older age will require care and support from others at some point.
Long-term care can include help with washing, dressing, eating, mobility, medication, rehabilitation, dementia support and participation in community life. It may be provided by trained professionals, relatives, unpaid carers or a combination of formal and informal services.
The WHO proposal contains 34 standards and 106 quality statements organised into eight areas: fundamental principles; home and community care; care in residential facilities; support for unpaid carers; workforce; financing; governance; and quality monitoring.
The standards emphasise that care should protect dignity, autonomy and basic rights. Older people should be involved in decisions affecting their lives rather than being treated solely as passive recipients of services.
Home and community support is especially important because many people wish to remain in familiar surroundings. However, that preference requires accessible housing, reliable community services, trained workers and assistance for relatives who may otherwise carry an unsustainable caring burden.
Unpaid carers are a major focus of the consultation. Family members frequently provide extensive physical and emotional support without adequate training, income protection, respite or recognition. Weak support can harm both the carer and the person receiving assistance.
Workforce conditions are also central. Long-term-care systems in many countries face shortages, low pay, limited training and high staff turnover. Standards will have little effect unless governments and providers invest in recruitment, supervision and safe staffing levels.
WHO intends the framework to be usable in countries with different resources and levels of formal service development. This creates a challenge: the final standards must establish meaningful protections while remaining adaptable to lower-income settings.
The consultation remains open until 30 October 2026. Governments, care providers, regulators, older people, carers, professional groups, researchers and members of the public are invited to comment before the framework is revised and formally published.
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