Community-based home care for older people Minimum standards of home care for older people in Red Cross Red Crescent volunteer-based programming in the Europe Zone

In June 2011, during the South Eastern Europe Home Care Conference in Montenegro, Red Cross Red Crescent Societies agreed on the recommendation to develop regional minimum standards for volunteer training in home care, also introducing psychosocial support, first aid and disaster management as an integral part of the basic training for volunteers. This document can be seen as a first step in the process of setting what we call the minimum standards of home care for older people in Red Cross Red Crescent volunteerbased programming, as well as of enhancing the active involvement of older people themselves in health care programmes and training.