ORGANIZATION OF MEDICAL AND SOCIAL CARE FOR THE ELDERLY AND SENILE POPULATION IN THE WORLD. ANALYTICAL REVIEW

Abstract

Significance. Population aging is considered one of the characteristic features of the modern demographic processes. This is both a forecast for the future and a basis for setting goals for health systems. Thus, the 2008 analytical review of the WHO Regional Office for Europe says that the long-established type of the fragmented care needs to be replaced by a comprehensive and coordinated type of care [1]. It is logical that this phenomenon affects not only health care, but goals of the social services as well, and economic indicators in general. In this regard, many countries have been undertaking efforts to implement or improve long-term care. Purpose. To evaluate medical and social care organization for the elderly and senile population in the world on the basis of the content analysis. Material and methods. Content analysis of the World Health Organization documents on medical and social care organization for the elderly and senile population. A total of 212 documents have been analyzed, 54 out of them have been selected for the analysis including 38 WHO materials and 16 scientific publications on the topic. Selection criteria - the documents should contain sufficient information on medical and social care organization for the elderly and senile population. Results. Analysis of the selected documents and publications has identified an urgent need to develop a comprehensive system of medical and social care delivery for the elderly as a separate group of the population with its peculiar characteristics of the course of diseases, comorbidity, and the need for long-term care.