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Lookup NU author(s): Natasha Matthews, Dr George Porter, Dr Stella Paddick, Professor Richard Walker
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Background: The global population is ageing rapidly, with low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) undergoing a fast demographic transition. As the number of older adults in LMICs increases, services able to effectively address their physical and mental health needs will be increasingly important. Objective: We review the health and socioeconomic resources currently available for older people in South Asian countries, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to identify gaps in available resources and assess areas for improvement. Methods: We conducted a search of grey and published literature via Google Search, Compendex, EBSCO, JSTOR, Medline, Ovid, ProQuest databases, Scopus and Web of Science. Data on population demographics, human resources, health funding and social protection for older people were extracted. Local informants were consulted to supplement and verify the data. Results: In the study countries, the number of health professionals with expertise in elderly care was largely unknown, with minimal postgraduate training programmes available in elderly medicine or psychiatry. Older adults are therefore cared for by general physicians, nurses and community health workers, all of whom are present in insufficient numbers per capita. Total average healthcare expenditure was 2.5–5.5% of GDP, with 48.1–72.0% of healthcare costs covered by out-of-pocket payments. Pakistan did not have a social pension; only India and Nepal offered financial assistance to people with dementia; and all countries had disproportionately low numbers of care elderly homes. Conclusions: Inadequate healthcare funding, a shortage of healthcare professionals and insufficient government pension and social security schemes are significant barriers to achieving universal health coverage in LMICs. Governing bodies must expand training programmes for healthcare providers for older adults, alongside increasing social protection to improve access to those in need and to prevent catastrophic health expenditure.
Author(s): Matthews NR, Porter GJ, Varghese M, Sapkota N, Khan MM, Lukose A, Paddick S-M, Dissanayake M, Khan NZ, Walker R
Publication type: Review
Publication status: Published
Journal: Global Health Action
Year: 2023
Volume: 16
Issue: 1
Print publication date: 01/01/2023
Online publication date: 20/12/2022
Acceptance date: 15/07/2022
ISSN (electronic): 1654-9880
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Ltd.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2022.2110198
DOI: 10.1080/16549716.2022.2110198
PubMed id: 36537796
