The rising longevity makes availability of palliative geriatric care for seniors in the Czech Republic an urgent issue
Abstract
The article presents data on the number of deaths in social and health services for seniors, on changes in place of death, and on proportion of deaths in selected health and social care facilities with focus on long-term care. Data from health and social statistics describe trends and changes in recent years.
The analysis shows a rapid increase in the number of deaths in non-hospital institutional settings. This development presents challenges for the availability of palliative, qualified geriatric, and nursing care, especially in residential social care facilities.
There is clear argument for strong and effective support of outpatient and home care and social services to encourage ageing in place and to increase the availability of palliative and geriatric care in social and health facilities providing care to frail seniors across different institutional and home settings.