Project Summary

As global populations age, governments around the world are investigating how to fund long-term care (LTC) in an equitable and sustainable manner. The research reported here has three objectives: (i) to identify and classify middle-income countries and high-income countries that have established LTC for older populations; (ii) to describe the financing features and undertake a detailed assessment of the public LTC programmes in these countries; and (iii) to identify and discuss the benefits, disadvantages and challenges of the different public LTC financing strategies, based on the experiences of high-income countries and on observations of the reviewed countries. This report concludes with some deliberations and lessons learned on financing options for LTC, specifically for low- and middle-income countries. Overall, the report offers valuable insights into how policy-makers can design effective and sustainable public LTC financing systems, ensuring that individuals and their families receive the necessary support and assistance to lead dignified lives as they age.

Outputs

Cheng TC, Yip W, Feng Z. Public provision and financing of long-term care: case studies in middle- and high-income countries. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2023. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.