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All countries in Europe face ageing populations. This review examines the impact of ageing populations on health systems, demonstrating that it will give rise to a number of challenges. However, the paper deems that much of this impact will depend on whether elderly people can be enabled to remain in good health. It points out that while expenditure on long-term care is certain to increase with the ageing of the population, it is not clear what the effects on health care expenditure will be.

The paper indicates that there are various policy options to soothe the potential impact of an ageing population, but one of the most promising ways appears to be the promotion of healthy ageing. Nevertheless, the ability of older people to remain healthy requires the provision of a supportive environment, including well-designed living conditions, access to economic resources, and appropriate health care.

The authors conclude that when adequate policies are implemented more people will age healthily, and health systems can be ensured that they are properly equipped to accommodate population ageing. Furthermore, in this case, population ageing does not inevitably lead to significantly higher health care expenditure.

The paper presents the following policy options that can promote healthy ageing:

• a better coordination of care across health and social services, as well as across different levels of health care is seen as crucial
• as many older people remain in hospital inappropriately, a number of measures can be applied to allow for more treatments out of hospital
• measures that reduce the risk of disease and promote the maintenance of function can ease the pressure on health care systems
• measures that enable more older people to remain in the labour force are recommended
• the need for the continued social engagement of elderly people should be addressed

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