Long-term care needs assessments: French and Russian experience

Abstract

Social support of older people is given a very great attention. In many countries, older people receive long-term care at home. The long-term care (LTC) is actively developed worldwide over the past 20 years. LTC improves the life quality of older people and people with disabilities. Such system includes medical and social services. Currently, in many OECD countries, from a half to three quarters of older people receive long-term care at home. France is one of those countries in which the social support of older people is given a very great attention. In Russia, long-term care is a task of family. Our country is taking first steps in creation of a long-term care system. It is important to take into account the experience of countries that already have specialized social services for older people with loss of autonomy. A new and important element of the LTC system will be a special scale for determining the level of need for long-term care. Such scale helps to differentiate the needs of each elderly person or person with a disability. This paper analyses the methods of determining the level of need for long-term care, used in France and in Russia and describes the advantages and disadvantages of these methods.