In a new study by Viktoria Szenkurök, Daniela Weber and Marcel Bilger, published in the International Journal of Health Economics and Management, the authors examine long-term care utilisation and unmet need, taking into account individual and country-specific factors. The results show that individual factors strongly influence long-term care utilisation through their impact on demand. In particular, the better state of health of wealthier and more educated people means that they utilise home care less frequently. At country level, for example, it can be seen that the availability of cash benefits for care (as opposed to benefits in kind) is strongly associated with the utilisation of mixed care, i.e. a combination of informal and formal care. It is particularly interesting that, according to the study, various care policy measures are not sufficient to significantly reduce the unmet need for personal care. In contrast, generous pensions are significantly associated with a lower unmet need.

Szenkurök, V., Weber, D., Bilger, M., 2024. Informal and formal long-term care utilization and unmet needs in Europe: examining socioeconomic disparities and the role of social policies for older adults. Int. J. Health Econ. Manag. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10754-024-09378-z