Public Mixed Funding for Residential Aged Care Facilities Residents’ Needs in the Asia–Pacific Region: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Due to population aging and sociodemographic change, there is an increasing reliance on residential aged care facilities in the Asia–Pacific region. Most countries have adopted taxation as the primary means to levy capital for funding universal health services and means-testing of benefits may be further incorporated as a policy balance between horizontal equity and fiscal sustainability. It was hypothesized that residential care needs are evaluated by assessments relating to funding; this scoping review seeks to synthesize how such assessments relate to the care needs of residents. Searches were conducted in concordance with a priori protocol for English-language literature published since 2008 in Embase, CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, JBI, TROVE, and four peak international organizations for studies and reports that describe the assessment of residents’ needs in Asia–Pacific countries that used a mixture of taxation and means-testing to publicly fund residential aged care. One paper and 47 reports were included. Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore utilize a taxation and means-tested user charge approach to fund residential aged care needs. The common care needs assessed include health conditions, daily activities, cognition, psychiatric, and behavioral needs. While essential care needs are publicly funded, other holistic care needs, such as spirituality and autonomy-based needs, still need to be covered for meaningful occupation by the residents.