scholarly journals Long-term care system for dependent people – Austrian experiences

Author(s):  
Marta Luty-Michalak ◽  
Aleksandra Syryt

Austrian society is an ageing society. Old age does not always mean dependence. However, the risk of disability and dependence increases with age. In addition, older people often experience multi-disease. High-quality long-term care services can help frail and dependent elderly on maintaining greater autonomy and participation in society, regardless of their condition. The aim of the article is to analyze legal, institutional and practical solutions in the field of long-term care system functioning in Austria. It should be emphasized that Austria is striving to develop services based on a social model and an independent life paradigm. Analysis of legal solutions indicates that the long-term care system in Austria is very complex. Institutional solutions are divided between the federal level and nine federal states. On the one hand, this results in decentralization and more effective help for the elderly, but on the other hand, it causes the diffusion and heterogeneity of standards.

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
F A Gomes ◽  
D G Lopes ◽  
I Cunha ◽  
S Duarte ◽  
M B Pereira ◽  
...  

Abstract Background As the percentage of elderly people (aged over 65) is expected to rise, from 16.0% of the population in 2010 to 29.3% in 2060 in Europe, a quality long-term care system is of increasing priority for governments. The aim of this study is to analyse long-term care services (LTCS) in the geographical area of the group of primary healthcare centres of Loures-Odivelas. Methods A retrospective, observational, descriptive study comprising data from public health inspections to LTCS between 2015 and 2019. Variables included were the number of residents, nurses, orderly, cooks, kitchen helpers and medical doctors; licensing status, public health inspection results and the presence of air conditioning. Descriptive analysis was performed for all variables. Results Between 2015 and 2019, a total of 200 public health inspections were carried out in 106 LTCS. Only 41 (38.7%) LTCS were licensed. The total number of residents was 2,803, 168 (6.0%) of which were bedridden. Concerning the staff ratio, 79 (74.5%) LTCS fulfilled the ratio of nurse to resident of 1:40 and 67 (63.2%) the ratio of orderly to resident of 1:8. On the first inspection, 11 LTCS (10.4%) complied with the minimal requirements for health care, hygiene, food preparation and facilities conditions. After the implementation of corrective measures proposed by the Public Health Unit, the number of LTCS which had complied for the same criteria was 64 (60.4%). Conclusions Society needs to adapt to a growing ageing population. LCTS, while part of the solution, still have deficiencies. In this sample, the majority were illegal and lacked the appropriate conditions. Public Health interventions can contribute to improving these services. Key messages In an ageing society, long-term care services are essential but the majority lack the appropriate conditions. Public Health intervention is crucial in implementing corrective measures that will result in better conditions for the elderly.


Author(s):  
Amy H. I. Lee ◽  
He-Yau Kang ◽  
Yu-Ai Liu

For many developed countries and regions, long-term care is becoming an important issue due to demographic changes and an increasing willingness and need of family members to let the elderly be taken care of by non-family members. Thus, effectively managing long-term care needs has become a major societal concern. In this paper, the public attitude towards long-term care and the satisfaction of long-term care services in Taiwan are examined. First, internal consistency reliability, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) are applied to delete unimportant indicators. Second, structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to determine which indicators have a statistically significant influence on the public attitude toward long-term care and on the satisfaction of long-term care services. Third, artificial neural network (ANN) is applied to understand the relative importance of the indicators in influencing the public attitude and satisfaction of long-term care services. The contribution of this study is significant because some of the factors investigated in the study should be stressed by the government or institutions to provide more satisfactory services to the elderly and their families.


Author(s):  
Luis López-Lago Ortiz ◽  
Sara Arroyo Chacón ◽  
Carmen Cipriano Crespo ◽  
Jerónimo Luengo Polo ◽  
Beatriz Muñoz González

1994 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 59-77
Author(s):  
Eleanor D. Kinney ◽  
Jay A. Freedman ◽  
Cynthia A. Loveland Cook

Community-based, long-term care has become an increasingly popular and needed service for the aged and disabled populations in recent years. These services witnessed a major expansion in 1981 when Congress created the Home and Community-Based Waiver authority for the Medicaid program. Currently, all states offer some complement of community-based, long-term care services to their elderly and disabled populations and nearly all states have Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services waivers which extend these services to their Medicaid eligible clients.An ever increasing proportion of the population is in need of community-based, long-term care services. Between nine and eleven million Americans of all ages are chronically disabled and require some help with tasks of daily living. In 1990, thirty percent of the elderly with at least one impaired activity of daily living used a community-based, long-term care service. Not surprisingly, expenditures for community-based, long-term care have increased.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. e89213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen-Yi Wu ◽  
Hsiao-Yun Hu ◽  
Nicole Huang ◽  
Yi-Ting Fang ◽  
Yiing-Jeng Chou ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
François Béland ◽  
Anne Lemay

ABSTRACTLong-term care is available for individuals with functional incapacities. Long-term care includes medical, social, and personal hygiene services, which help to maintain the autonomy of the elderly and allows them to live with dignity in spite of loss of autonomy. This definition provides long-term care services with a goal and a clientele. However, are individuals with functional incapacities first and foremost chronically ill? Should long-term care services be conceptualized as independent from medical care? Provincial government policy documents promote a social model of long-term care which privileges community services as opposed to institutional services. What in fact does this choice imply? To what extent have resources been allocated in accordance with these objectives? A study of these questions based on Canadian data on the relationship between illnesses, disabilities and functional incapacity and data from a historical survey of expenditures in Quebec for hospital care, medical care, institutional long-term care and community services indicates that illnesses, disabilities, and functional incapacity, although strongly correlated in an elderly population, cannot be collapsed into one big category for planning services; co-ordinated services in a multidisciplinary approach are needed, not dominance from one professional group. As to costs, an examination of the data shows that in relative terms costs for community care tended to increase significantly in the recent past. Yet it is not clear that there has been a transfer from short-term medical and hospital services to long-term care. However, there has been an important internal change in hospital costs, with the elderly representing the only group whose costs are rising. In short, despite the political rhetoric on long-term care for the elderly promoting a community approach, these services' main function is still the surveillance of the vulnerable elderly in both short- and long-term care facilities; adapting the elderly to their environment and the environment to the elderly play a growing, though minor, role in the overall picture of medical and social services.


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