ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses recent initiatives to deal with the problem of the unsustainability of social protection systems and traditional healthcare in Spain, as an example of a Mediterranean welfare state. It presents and discusses an approach to overcome the persistence of this problem, called the "Sustainable Socio-Health Model" (SSHM). The chapter reviews the set of interconnected challenges facing the healthcare and social support systems in Spain. It outlines the axiological assumptions behind the model and how they are reflected in it. The chapter argues that the change toward such a model may be fruitfully understood as a transition, that is, a process of fundamental transformation of practices and structures – more specifically involving, in this instance, a transformation of the structures of two systems while transcending their functional differentiation. It focuses on three principles: social sustainability, quality of life and dignified death, and social co-responsibility.
