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LAUREL

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Strengthening Integrated Long-Term Care in Europe

At a glance:

Project description

Laurel aims to help building better systems for integrated long-term care in the EU27. The project will analyse existing long-term care systems and gather insights into the regional and gender differences of care service delivery.  

Using this intelligence, Laurel will both produce actionable policy recommendations in a White Paper as well as a set of guiding tools to help policymakers from all European care systems deliver more effective and equitable care.

Why the project?

Long-term care services support individuals who require assistance with daily living tasks, including people in need of ongoing nursing care. (These needs often arise when people experience either physical or/and mental health challenges.) While disability affects people of all ages, the likelihood of experiencing their effects increases with age. As life expectancy extends, younger individuals with disabilities may find themselves in need of long-term care for prolonged periods. These implications highlight the importance of considering a life-course perspective in care planning. 

Laurel aims to identify leading innovative and integrated care solutions that improve the quality of long-term care. It seeks to address and reduce inequalities in care access based on location and gender. A key goal of the project is to favour services provided either at home or in the community. Indeed, Laurel emphasises a person-centred approach as a fundamental principle. 

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EHTEL’s role

EHTEL is actively involved in all aspects of the Laurel project and it takes the lead in conducting stakeholder analysis and managing potential benefits. Its roles include: 

  • Identifying the most effective ways to reach, influence, and engage stakeholders. 
  • Prioritizing stakeholder groups and crafting messages tailored to each group's specific interests and needs.  
  • Helping to build a community of stakeholders and interested parties around the project's goals and activities.  
  • Seeking opportunities to extend the influence and benefits of the project's outcomes. 
  • Fostering strong networks and collaborations with similar projects and peers. 
  • Playing a key role in organising a Policy Roundtable with the project coordinator and policy officers to collect insightful feedback and recommendations from a wide range of projects on similar topics.  
  • Aiming, overall, to enhance significantly the provision of integrated, long-term care throughout Europe. 

EHTEL has associated its work on Laurel with Transforming Care Delivery, including the use of AI, a pillar in its annual work programme. 

What’s in Laurel for EHTEL’s members

Building on the association's comprehensive involvement, EHTEL members will have the opportunity to contribute to the future of integrated long-term care in three ways: by offering their technical expertise; presenting their innovative solutions; and participating actively in the creation of actionable policies that support the adoption and strengthening of integrated long-term care. 

This participation extends to organising, and getting engaged in customized workshops, webinars, and focus groups. These types of activities will provide a platform for EHTEL members to share their insights and expertise. 

Project background

Laurel is a three-year EU Horizon research and innovation project funded through the European Research Executive Agency. It involves nine organizations - six of them are European-wide networks and associations or entities from the health and social care sector.   

The project will end at the end of April 2027. It has involved a wide range of health and care stakeholders, including citizens and users.   

For more information

For more information about the Laurel project.

For more EHTEL's work under Transforming Care Delivery, including the use of AI pillar see here.

 

 eu funded en

This project (Project 101132643 - LAUREL - Actionable policies for adopting high-quality integrated long-term care) has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 875215. The content of this website reflects only the Laurel groups’ views and the European Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.

News

  • 25/09/2026

    Turning Citizens Rights into Real Integrated Care: The Yellow Button

    A new EHTEL working paper, written for the Laurel project, focuses on “The European Health Data Space and the Yellow Button: Operationalising Citizen Rights for Integrated Long-Term Care”. It shows how EHDS data rights can be shifted from legal text into everyday care practice. The way forward is to start with a simple, citizen-controlled Yellow Button.

    Read more
  • 05/05/2026

    Assessing Digital Readiness in Care: How the Laurel DMAT Can Help

    A new practical toolkit developed by EHTEL and the Politechnic University of Madrid in the EU-funded Laurel Project is helping care organisations across Europe understand how ready they are to embrace digital technology — and what it will take them to get there.

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  • 26/02/2026

    Understanding DMAT: Measuring the real impact of digital health in care

    The DMAT is a toolkit developed in the Laurel project to support organisations involved in integrated long-term care (I-LTC) in assessing and improving their digital readiness.

    DMAT’s purpose is to enable the transition toward better integrated, person-centred services and to facilitate the adoption of smart digital solutions by strengthening care delivery and professional capacity.

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  • 26/02/2026

    Advancing Digital Maturity in Integrated Long-Term Care: the DMAT Toolkit

    On 17 December 2025, EHTEL and the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) co-organised an online workshop dedicated to the Digital Maturity Assessment Toolkit (DMAT), a key innovation of the Laurel project. The session brought together representatives from three selected good practices of integrated long-term care (I-LTC). The speakers and attendees validated the tool, gathered structured feedback, and co-designed its refinement and future deployment.

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  • 20/08/2025

    Unlocking Societal Impact in Integrated Long-Term Care supported by Digital Tools: Benefitting from Laurel’s DMAT

    Powered by the Laurel project

    EHTEL is encouraging its members, and the digital health community, to learn from the Digital Maturity Model Tool (DMAT), developed by the Laurel project. The tool is a useful mechanism for incorporating societal impact and digital maturity into planning, service delivery, and innovation processes whenever work is taking place on integrated long-term care (I-LTC).

    Read more

Resources

  • The European Health Data Space and the Yellow Button: Operationalising Citizen Rights for Integrated Long-Term Care 28 September 2026 PDF*
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