LTCcovid Country Profiles

Responses to 4.08. Reforms to strengthen community-based care

The LTCcovid International Living report is a “wiki-style” report addressing 68 questions on characteristics of Long-Term Care (LTC) systems, impacts of COVID-19 on LTC, measures adopted to mitigate these impacts and new reforms countries are adopting to address structural problems in LTC systems and to improved preparedness for future events. It was compiled and updated voluntarily by experts on LTC all over the world. Members of the Social Care COVID-19 Resilience and Recovery project moderated the entries and edited as needed. It was updated regularly until the end of 2022.

The report can be read by question/topic (below) or by country: COVID-19 and Long-Term Care country profiles.

To cite this report (please note the date in which it was consulted as the contents changes over time):

Comas-Herrera A, Marczak J, Byrd W, Lorenz-Dant K, Patel D, Pharoah D (eds.) and LTCcovid contributors.  (2022) LTCcovid International living report on COVID-19 and Long-Term Care. LTCcovid, Care Policy & Evaluation Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science. https://doi.org/10.21953/lse.mlre15e0u6s6

Copyright is with the LTCCovid and Care Policy and Evaluation Centre, LSE.

 

International reports and sources

EU report on LTC (2021) highlights some recent reforms in LTC in Member States.

The Finnish government is currently proposing reforms to the Social Welfare Act that aim to strengthen and expand home-based care, including widening the services on offer and adopting measures to secure sufficient staff.

Last updated: December 10th, 2021

In domiciliary care, the Prime Minister announced in September 2021 the introduction of a minimum rate of €22 per hour for home care to stabilise the sector, with the potential to get an additional 3€ per hour for providers who demonstrate a commitment to improvements (e.g. around workforce training, investment in infrastructure, weekend delivery, complex care). The additional total spending for 2022 will be €240million. However, municipalities have estimated that the cost of these reforms is more in the region of €800 million.

Last updated: December 4th, 2021   Contributors: Camille Oung  |  

Financial support to adapt homes

People with LTC needs can receive up to €4,000 for changes to their home (for example, to widen doors) to enable people to remain in the community for longer (Bundesministerium für Gesundheit, 2017a, 2017b).

Financial support for shared accommodation for people with care need needs in the community

The care strengthening bills support people wishing to set up shared accommodation for people with LTC needs by providing financial support to set this up. People with care needs living in shared accommodations can also receive monthly financial support (Bundesministerium für Gesundheit, 2017a, 2017b).

Expansion of day and nigh care services

The first care strengthening bill expanded day and night care services. These services can be used without reducing people’s care allowance or entitlement to domiciliary care (Bundesministerium für Gesundheit, 2017b).

References

Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (2017a) Erstes Pflegestärkungsgesetz (PSG I). Available at: https://www.bundesgesundheitsministerium.de/service/begriffe-von-a-z/p/pflegestaerkungsgesetz-erstes-psg-i.html(Accessed 1 February 2022)

Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (2017b) Die Pflegestärkungsgesetze – Das Wichtigste im Überblick. Available at: https://www.bundesgesundheitsministerium.de/fileadmin/Dateien/5_Publikationen/Pflege/Broschueren/PSG_Das_Wichtigste_im_Ueberblick.pdf(Accessed 1 February 2022)

Last updated: February 12th, 2022   Contributors: Klara Lorenz-Dant  |  Thomas Fischer  |  Kerstin Hämel  |  

Contributors to the LTCcovid Living International Report, so far:

Elisa Aguzzoli, Liat Ayalon, David Bell, Shuli Brammli-Greenberg, Erica Breuer, Jorge Browne Salas, Jenni Burton, William Byrd, Sara Charlesworth, Adelina Comas-Herrera, Natasha Curry, Gemma Drou, Stefanie Ettelt, Maria-Aurora Fenech, Thomas Fischer, Nerina Girasol, Chris Hatton, Kerstin Hämel, Nina Hemmings, David Henderson, Kathryn Hinsliff-Smith, Iva Holmerova, Stefania Ilinca, Hongsoo Kim, Margrieta Langins, Shoshana Lauter, Kai Leichsenring, Elizabeth Lemmon, Klara Lorenz-Dant, Lee-Fay Low, Joanna Marczak, Elisabetta Notarnicola, Cian O’Donovan, Camille Oung, Disha Patel, Martina Paulikova, Eleonora Perobelli, Daisy Pharoah, Stacey Rand, Tine Rostgaard, Olafur H. Samuelsson, Maximilien Salcher-Konrad, Benjamin Schlaepfer, Cheng Shi, Cassandra Simmons, Andrea E. Schmidt, Agnieszka Sowa-Kofta, Wendy Taylor, Thordis Hulda Tomasdottir, Sharona Tsadok-Rosenbluth, Sara Ulla Diez, Lisa van Tol, Patrick Alexander Wachholz, Jae Yoon Yi, Jessica J. Yu

This report has built on previous LTCcovid country reports and is supported by the Social Care COVID-19 Resilience and Recovery project, which is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Policy Research Programme (NIHR202333) and by the International Long-Term Care Policy Network and the Care Policy and Evaluation Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the funders.