Mapping long-term care in Jamaica: addressing an ageing population

Govia, Ishtar, Robinson, Janelle N., Amour, Rochelle, Stubbs, Marissa, Lorenz-Dant, Klara, Comas-Herrera, Adelina ORCID: 0000-0002-9860-9062 and Knapp, Martin ORCID: 0000-0003-1427-0215 (2021) Mapping long-term care in Jamaica: addressing an ageing population. Sustainability (Switzerland), 13 (14). ISSN 2071-1050

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Abstract

Jamaica’s ageing population, high prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and associated functional impairments suggest the need for a sustainable long-term care (LTC) system. This paper describes the current LTC system in Jamaica. A review of empirical and grey literature on LTC was supplemented with consultations and interviews and group discussions for knowledge exchange, impact and engagement events with stakeholders being conducted as part of a project on dementia care improvement. Four key findings emerged: (1) Jamaica’s LTC system depends substantially on informal care (both unpaid and paid); (2) there is a need for strategic co-ordination for LTC across the state, cross-ministerial, private, and volunteer sectors; (3) compulso-ry insurance and social protection schemes appear to exacerbate rather than narrow socioeconomic inequalities in LTC; and (4) there is a lack of systematic LTC data gathering and related information systems in both the private and public sector—for both institutional and community-based care. For LTC in Jamaica and the broader Caribbean region to be sustainable, more evidence-informed policies and practices that address inequalities in access to services, ability to pay for care, direct support from government, and the risk of needing LTC are needed.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability
Additional Information:	© 2021 The Authors
Divisions:	Care Policy and Evaluation Centre
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
Date Deposited:	12 Aug 2021 09:27
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 02:37
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/111590

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