New study: one in four older people have unmet needs for long-term care
In a new study published in Health Economics Review, experts have found that health and social care systems are not adequately meeting the needs of older people worldwide, with one in 10 experiencing unmet needs in healthcare and one in four unmet needs in long-term care.
The study was led by the WHO Centre for Health Development (WHO Kobe Centre) and a researcher based at the Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study at Hitotsubashi University, Japan, in cooperation with the WHO Department of Health Systems Governance and Financing.
The study is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to analyze unmet needs for healthcare and long-term care among older people globally, providing pooled estimates of the prevalence of and leading reasons for unmet needs among older people across countries and socio-demographic groups. The study identified 101 relevant studies from four major databases, published between 1996 and 2020.
Overall, 10.4% of the older population had self-reported unmet needs for healthcare, defined as having foregone or delayed care for a perceived health problem. The most common reasons for unmet healthcare needs were: cost of treatment; lack of health facilities; lack of/conflicting time; health problem not viewed as serious; and mistrust/fear of provider. Significantly, women were more likely than men to experience unmet needs due to cost, with similar results found for those with lower education, lower income, lack of insurance, and poor self-reported health.
Unmet needs in long-term care, where someone has functional limitations but has not received the necessary personal care or assistance, were found to be more prevalent, affecting one in four older people. Rural residents had a higher prevalence of unmet needs in long-term care compared to their urban counterparts.
These findings are crucial to understanding how well health and social care systems are meeting the needs of older people and what gaps remain. As the number of older persons needing medical care and long-term care increases rapidly around the world as the population ages, ensuring affordability of services, reducing geographical barriers to accessing care, and improving the acceptability of services from the perspective of older people, will be critical in reducing unmet need.