https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3944-873X
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ABSTRACT
Social innovations in long-term care (LTC) may be useful in more effective responses to the challenges of population aging for Western societies. One of the most investigated aspects in this regard is the role of family/informal care and strategies to improve its integration into the formal care system, yielding a more holistic care approach that may enhance opportunities for aging in place. This article reports the findings of a comparative research focusing on the Italian and Israeli LTC systems as representative of the Mediterranean “family-based” care model. To analyze the innovative solutions that have been adopted or are needed to improve LTC provision in these two contexts, focus groups and expert interviews have been carried out in both countries to identify the most relevant challenges and responses to them and to highlight promising policies and strategies to be adopted or up-scaled in the future. These include multidisciplinary case and care management, a stronger connection between prevention and LTC provision, and more systematic recognition of the role and limits of informal caregivers’ contributions.
Acknowledgments
This study has been made possible thanks to following sources of funding: The data collection in Italy was funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration (Grant Agreement No. 320333 for the MOPACT project), and the data collection in Israel was funded by the European Union’s COST programme (Grant for a Short-Term Scientific Mission within the COST ROSEnet Action No. CA15122). This study was partially supported by Ricerca Corrente funding from the Italian Ministry of Health to IRCCS INRCA.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 Authors’ own elaborations, available upon request.