Future of an Ageing Population

Future of an Ageing Population | Health and Care Systems
A joined-up approach between health and social care provision is required to
make progress in this area.
Professionals, (including those in healthcare), patients, service users,
and carers will also need to be able to operate technologies. Healthcare
professionals have had mixed reactions to technological advances such as
e-prescribing and computerised physician order entry, expressing worries that
these new systems may disrupt professional routines and increase workload 196 .
A technology which has been successfully demonstrated with one patient
group will not necessarily work for other groups or in different regulatory
environments. People with higher incomes are likely to be healthier and to
own and use new technologies. Given this, there is a risk that the potential of
technologies to support health will not translate to those with highest need,
exacerbating existing health inequalities.
Policy Implication
New and emerging technologies have the potential to change care in the
home and community. Capitalising on the opportunity this offers will mean
addressing barriers and being sensitive to public concerns around privacy.
International case study: Long-term care insurance in
Germany and Japan
Compulsory long-term care insurance was implemented in Germany in
1995, initially to protect against the financial hardships associated with
disability and chronic illness. Later reforms included the introduction
of long-term care for dementia patients, earnings replacement for up
to 10 days of acute family care, and rehabilitation benefits to avoid or
delay the need for long-term care 197 .
Long-term care insurance is a compulsory ‘pay-as-you-go’ system
with contributions, based on salary, split equally between employer
and employee. To compensate employers for the additional cost, one
public holiday was declared as a working day. Contribution rate was
initially 1% of salary in 1995 but has increased over the years to 2.35%
in 2015. Childless employees over 23 pay an extra 0.25% 198 .
Anyone with a physical or mental illness or disability, who has made
contributions for at least two years (reduced from five years in 2008),
P86