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 / expected 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.