Three dimensions of long‐term care provision in middle‐income countries—A view across Africa, Latin America and Asia

This article identifies and assesses gaps and deficits in the provision of long-term care (LTC) services in nine middle-income countries (MIC) across Africa (Algeria, Nigeria, South Africa), Latin America (Brazil, Colombia, Mexico) and Asia (China, India, Turkey). Legislation and entitlement to, conditions for access to and availability of publicly financed or co-financed LTC services for elderly persons are assessed.
Across the nine selected MIC, it is revealed that hardly any legal entitlements to specific LTC services exist for elderly persons. The most common conditions for access to institutional care are a minimum age and little or no income. With respect to availability, it can be concluded that institutional care facilities are usually concentrated in urban or wealthy areas. In many cases they exist in the capital region only, but even their capacities are limited. Home-based care is hardly available at all.