Long-term Care - Needs For Long-term Care

Needs For Long-term Care

Life expectancy is going up in most countries, meaning more and more people are living longer and entering an age when they may need care. Meanwhile birth rates are generally falling. Globally, 70 percent of all older people now live in low or middle-income countries. Countries and health care systems need to find innovative and sustainable ways to cope with the demographic shift. As reported by John Beard, director of the World Health Organization's Department of Ageing and Life Course, "With the rapid ageing of populations, finding the right model for long-term care becomes more and more urgent."

The demographic shift is also being accompanied by changing social patterns, including smaller families, different residential patterns and increased female labour force participation. These factors often contribute to an increased need for paid care.

In many countries, the largest percentages of older persons needing LTC services still rely on informal home care, or services provided by unpaid caregivers (usually nonprofessional family members, friends or other volunteers). Estimates from the OECD of these figures often are in the 80 to 90 percent range; for example, in Austria, 80 percent of all older citizens. The similar figure for dependent elders in Spain is 82.2 percent.

The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that about 9 million American men and women over the age of 65 needed long-term care in 2006, with the number expected to jump to 12 million by 2020. It is anticipated that most will be cared for at home; family and friends are the sole caregivers for 70 percent of the elderly. A study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that four out of every ten people who reach age 65 will enter a nursing home at some point in their lives. About 10 percent of the people who enter a nursing home will stay there five years or more.