Long Term Care Analysis

While higher life expectancy is to be celebrated and the experience of older persons should be harnessed and utilized, population ageing entails an increase in the need for Long-Term Care (LTC). LTC is defined as a set of activities and relations at the intersection of state, market and family that aims to meet the health and social needs of older persons. There are two main (often parallel) systems of LTC: 1) informal care providers, such as unpaid family members and paid home care workers employed by the family and 2) formal care providers, such as nursing aides and support workers employed by regulated bodies. Chapter 3 in this report shows that most LTC delivered to older persons in the Arab region is provided by family members, mainly
Such bi-directional intergenerational support mechanism is guided by ‘unspoken’ religious moral codes that emphasize the respect of older persons within the family and set certain expectations and care exchange duties including grand-parenting and financial support from older generations. This is also guided by reciprocal benefits across generations. However, various social dynamics, such as changes in marriage patterns, co-residency and international migration of offspring threaten the viability and sustainability of this traditional inter-generational support for older persons. The current research and previous research indicate some attention to these dynamics among policymakers in the region where some countries have begun to consider of policy developments in the field of ageing and long- term care. Ageing policies need to take a more prominent state within the wider social developments in the region in order for governments to improve the protection of all groups of their societies and meet national as well as international development
Dementia is characterized by a combination of symptoms that affects thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning capacity, language, and judgment. It is often accompanied by a decline in emotional control or motivation, or a change in social behaviour. There are over 100 forms of dementia – the most common form is Alzheimer’s disease, which accounts for between 60 per cent and 70 per cent of all cases. Other types of dementia include vascular dementia, fronto-temporal dementia and Lewy body disease. Dementia remains one of the toughest challenges in health and social care provision across the world. Data and evidence of the exact prevalence of dementia in the region are very limited and are usually generalized from small-scale and local few studies, mainly in Egypt. Based on these limited studies, it is estimated that the prevalence of dementia among older persons (60+) to beis currently around 6 per cent . Despite this relatively low prevalence of dementia, the numbers of people with dementia are projected to be significant with at least 4.7 million people in the region by 2040 . While there has been scientific progress over the last 25 years, addressing dementia remains a national and international challenge. Stigma, denial and inadequate financial resources remain key barriers to proper treatment and care. The direct