Introducing age-friendly standards in Austrian health services

Population ageing, workforce shortages and rising care demands challenge the equity and resilience of health services across Europe. Health services are major care providers and employers, yet age-related needs of patients and staff are often addressed through fragmented measures. Organization-wide approaches are needed to embed age-friendliness as a structural equity issue relevant to urban and rural settings alike. Since 2021, the Austrian Health Promoting Hospitals and Health Services Network has introduced a standards-based recognition pathway for age-friendly health services. Five standards address management principles, communication and services, care processes, physical environment and age-friendly structures for staff. The practice combines structured self-assessment, external peer review, defined recognition levels and targeted reviewer training. It aims to stimulate organization-wide reflection and long-term development rather than isolated interventions. Early experience with the self-assessment and recognition process suggests that engaging with the pathway encourages organizations to reflect on internal capacities, available resources and competing priorities. Uptake has been gradual, reflecting the complexity and demands of comprehensive organizational change. Self-assessment and peer review provide a structured basis for reflection on work organization, care processes and organizational culture. Reviewer training emerged as an essential prerequisite for ensuring quality, consistency and credibility of the practice. Embedding age-friendliness as an equity-oriented approach in health services requires governance instruments that support sustained organizational development. Standards and recognition procedures can support structured reflection and organizational learning, but depend on institutional support, capacity building and long-term commitment.

Key messages

• Standards and recognition procedures can support equity-oriented organizational change in health services by providing a structured framework to reflect on organizational capacities and barriers

• Embedding age-friendliness requires long-term governance approaches, capacity building and realistic timelines rather than isolated measures.