The need for a Geriatric Care Fund
by youngworld on August 6, 2011
Please take our survey of only 10 questions and assist us in our quest for more effective and efficient ways to finance and deliver long-term care in South Africa. : http://zuanne.polldaddy.com/s/geriatric-care-fund
There is a huge need to expand home-based Health Care Services in South Africa, not only for our Aging population but also for accident victims, post-operative patients, both medical and orthopedic, the handicapped, young people diagnosed with Schizophrenia or other mental conditions, such as depression, borderline personality disorder, bipolar also Terminally ill patients, Oncology patients and People dying of AIDS. All of these people can be successfully medically treated at home at an fraction of the cost of an Hospital, Clinic, or institute.
For the purpose of this study however, we are focused on the Elderly. We face of a significant increase in the number of older people, especially in the very old. Because of the ageing of the world population, the importance and demand of home health care as a public issue is expected to increase. The position and standard of care of the rapidly growing number of retired people in South Africa (and all over the world) are cause for concern. The reduction of subsidies to old age homes and service centers has resulted in old age home care no longer being appropriate and affordable. Given the rapidly changing health and long-term care environments, it is very difficult to predict what kind of financing and delivery systems will emerge in the future.
A key problem highlighted in 2010 was that however much people became convinced of the need, the poor ability of much of the middle class to prepare for that later-life care is noticeable. People continue to rely mostly upon out-of-pocket payments. Plainly, these people will have great difficulty funding any part of care costs should they arise. The consequences is that the aged will be obligated to remain in the community for longer and will have to be more self-reliant, with the help of fellow aged, churches and/or families if needs be.
The crisis in caring for the elderly isn’t going to go away. Whether we like it or not, long-term care is coming of age. It will be one of the major challenges of the twenty-first century. We are going to have to make some very tough decisions about how we pay for care in the future, when it’s calculated that two thirds of women and half of all men will need some form of care during their retirement. We can wait for the crisis to hit, or we can actively develop financing, delivery, and training strategies that build on the lessons learned from the successes and failures in our own country and other nations––strategies that strike the right balance between public and private resources. We must continue our quest for more effective and efficient ways to finance and deliver long-term care.
Please take our survey so that we can better understand the Health Care needs of South Africans: http://zuanne.polldaddy.com/s/geriatric-care-fund
Who would benefit from taking the Survey?
- People who realise they have not made sufficient provision for long term care while they personally experience their parents spending all their money on care.
- People suffering under the impact it had on them and their family, while caring for an elderly loved one, and they don’t want that to happen to their spouse and children.
- People who are healthy, and retired, or preparing to retire.
- People of any age who has been diagnosed with a chronic condition or a debilitating illness.