European Welfare Models and Mental Wellbeing in Final Years of Life

The EMMY Project was an interdisciplinary and mixed methods comparative study on the impact of welfare systems on mental wellbeing among the oldest old (defined as 80 years and over) in Finland, Italy, Norway and Spain, during the years 2017-2019.

The mixed methods study explored the concept of mental wellbeing in oldest old age by qualitative methods, outlined the multidimensional components of mental wellbeing using European Social Survey data and investigated links between welfare systems and mental wellbeing. EMMY outcomes were summarised in a Decision Support Tool which guides the user through a series of assessments around how well a proposed project, policy and initiatives takes mental wellbeing into consideration for the oldest old population.

The overarching aim of this interdisciplinary, comparative research project was to improve knowledge and understanding of how different welfare models and related policies can be adapted to support mental wellbeing into the oldest-old age.

The EMMY consortium consisted of five partners from four European countries:

1. National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Finland
2. Åbo Akademi University (ÅA), Finland
3. SINTEF, Norway
4. The Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM), Spain
5. University of Verona (UNIVR), Italy