Geriatricians-on-the-Move for sustainable ageing

Geriatricians-on-the-Move for sustainable ageingAs of 2024, nearly 20% of the EU population is aged 65 years or older (referred to as older adults hereon), with the figure projected to exceed 25% by 2050. 1 Older adults generally experience increased disease burden and dependence on caregivers.Health-care systems worldwide, which are already stretched to their limits, are unprepared for this substantial demographic shift.Sustainable solutions are needed to address the growing socioeconomic and ecological challenges of an ageing society, safeguarding the wellbeing of both people and the planet for the coming years and future generations.Therefore, national, European, and global institutions urgently need to rethink geriatric health-care models.In Belgium, as in other central and southern European countries, public spending on long-term care has lagged historically.In 2021, Belgium allocated only 22% of its gross domestic product to long-term care, compared with 37% allocated by the Netherlands, a disparity that is reflected in the higher mortality rates in nursing homes in Belgium than that in the Netherlands. 2 To enhance sustainable investment in nursing home care, Ghent University Hospital (Ghent, Belgium) launched the Geriatricians-on-the-Move project in February, 2024.This initiative bridges the gap between hospitals and nursing homes, with hospital geriatricians making weekly visits to nursing homes.In a typical nursing home with 150 residents, 30 (20%) of the residents were seen by a hospital geriatrician between May 1 and July 31, 2024, with 17 (57%) of them receiving at least two visits.A strong collaboration exists between hospital geriatricians, residents, and primary caregivers, who receive individual reports and can request for bedside advice weekly.Since June, 2024, the Belgian Government has been providing financial support for this model by tripling the reimbursement rate for geriatric consultations in nursing homes. 3 The Geriatricians-on-the-Move model is a unique model in Europe.Unlike nursing home specialists who may not have hospital experience or geriatricians who visit nursing homes sporadically, such as in acute care hospital-at-nursing home models (eg, Gruppo di Intervento Rapido Ospedale-Territorio [GIROT] in Italy and CoCare in Germany), these geriatricians possess in-depth understanding of both hospital and nursing home capabilities and are familiar with the distinctive needs of individual residents.In this Comment, we emphasise the sustainability of this