The Economist Intelligence Unit Investigates: Healthcare Costs of Ageing

We need to train more geriatricians locally since we cannot expect to poach talent from developing countries. In many developing countries, geriatric training is not offered.

The paper also emphasizes the need to consider care options. Most countries planning to address the healthcare costs of an ageing population understand that home care is a cost-effective alternative to institutionalization. Effectively providing home care will require a comprehensive strategy that should include a strategy to support informal caregivers:

“To leverage a tremendous amount of already unpaid labour, you need to have some kind of support from the larger system…” Said Susan Eng, CARP VP of Advocacy.

The report concludes that the ageing population must not be viewed as a catastrophe but a success. It will certainly pose some challenges and to meet funding requirements we may have to change certain policy orientations however, on the whole, the challenge is not insurmountable.

Keywords: healthcare, costs, demographics