Health and long-term care in the European Union

Special Eurobarometer European Commission Health and long-term care in the European Union Fieldwork: May – June 2007 Publication: December 2007 Report This survey was requested by Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities and coordinated by Directorate-General for Communication. This document does not represent the point of view of the European Commission. The interpretations and opinions contained in it are solely those of the authors. Special EUROBAROMETER 283 “Health and Long-Term Care” Table of contents INTRODUCTION..................................................................................3 1. THE HEALTH OF EUROPEANS.......................................................5 1.1 Healthy living .......................................................................5 1.2 The consequences of unhealthy behaviour and situations..11 1.3 Health limitations...............................................................14 1.4 Becoming dependent upon the help of others.....................17 1.5 Preparations for the future.................................................22 2. HEALTH CARE IN EUROPE..........................................................25 2.1 Hospitals ............................................................................25 2.2 Dental care.........................................................................33 2.3 Medical or surgical specialists ............................................42 2.4 Family doctors....................................................................48 2.5 Care services for dependent people....................................54 2.6 Nursing homes ...................................................................60 3. ATTITUDES TO CARE OF ELDERLY AND DEPENDENT PEOPLE.....66 3.1 Best care option for elderly parents....................................66 3.2 Attitudes regarding care for the elderly..............................68 3.3 Attitudes concerning the situation of dependent elderly people……….....................................................................................72 - 1 - Special EUROBAROMETER 283 “Health and Long-Term Care” 4. PROVIDING LONG-TERM CARE ..................................................78 4.1 Experience with long-term health care...............................78 4.2 Paying for the long-term care of a parent...........................85 5. RECEIVING LONG-TERM CARE...................................................91 5.1 Likelihood of receiving appropriate care in the future........91 5.2 Expected and preferred form of long-term care..................95 5.3 Financing long-term care..................................................100 6. MALTREATMENT OF DEPENDENT ELDERLY PEOPLE..................107 6.1 Occurrence of poor treatment, neglect and abuse............107 6.2 Forms of maltreatment faced by dependent elderly people109 6.3 Perceived ‘offenders’........................................................112 6.4 Preventing maltreatment..................................................114 CONCLUSION..................................................................................117 ANNEXES Respondents’ sociodemographic profile Technical note Questionnaire Data tables - 2 - Special EUROBAROMETER 283 “Health and Long-Term Care” INTRODUCTION Confronted with rising long-term care needs due to an increasingly ageing population, the European Union is supporting the Member States in their efforts to improve health and long-term care in Europe. In 2002, the Barcelona European Council recognised three guiding principles for the reform of health care systems: accessibility for all, high quality care and long-term financial sustainability. It is in this context that the Directorate-General Employment of the European Commission commissioned a survey that examines public opinion about health care across Europe, focussing specifically on long-term care and care of the elderly. Between the 25th of May and the 30th of June 2007, TNS Opinion & Social interviewed 28,660 Europeans aged 15 and over living in the 27 European Union Member States and the two candidate countries (Croatia and Turkey). The methodology used is that of the Standard Eurobarometer surveys of the Directorate-General Communication (“Public Opinion and Media Monitoring” Unit). A technical note concerning the interviews, carried out by the institutes of the TNS Opinion & Social network, is annexed to this report. This note specifies the interview method used, as well as the confidence intervals1. This report studies successively the following issues covered by the survey. ♦ First of all, we focus on the lifestyle of Europeans, their health-limitations and their views about becoming dependent upon the help of others. In chapter two we examine the public’s assessment of the health-care system in general and the care of dependent people specifically by looking at quality, availability, accessibility and affordability of health care services. We furthermore analyse the extent to which people have had to do without care because of availability, accessibility or affordability problems. ♦ The second part of the report focuses on attitudes to care of elderly and dependent people: how people want their elderly parents to be looked after, how should the care of elderly and dependent people be financed and how well elderly and dependent people are perceived to be looked after. ♦ In the final part we focus specifically on long-term care and the care of the elderly. We firstly examine Europeans’ views about the provision of long term care: the appropriateness and costs and to what extent they themselves have been involved in providing care. We then look at people’s views about receiving care: the perceived likelihood that people will receive appropriate care in the future, how they expect and prefer to be taken care of should the need arise and how they think they will finance their future long-term care. In the last chapter, we look at the extent to which abuse of elderly dependent people is perceived to be taking place, what forms of abuse this vulnerable group is subjected to and who the perpetrators are perceived to be. 1 The results tables are included in the annex. The totals indicated may show a one point difference with the sum of the individual units. It should also be noted that the total of the percentages in the tables of this report may exceed 100% when the respondent has the possibility to give several answers to the same question. - 3 - Special EUROBAROMETER 283 “Health and Long-Term Care” In this report the countries are represented by their official abbreviations. Other abbreviations used in this report are: ABBREVIATIONS EU27 EU15 NMS12 DK BE BG CZ DK D-E DE D-W EE EL ES FR IE IT CY LT LV LU HU MT NL AT PL PT RO SI SK FI SE UK HR TR TEA: European Union - 27 Member States European Union - 15 Member States prior to 1st May 2004 New Member States – 12 Member States which joined the EU after 1st May 2004 Don’t know Belgium Bulgaria Czech Republic Denmark East Germany Germany West Germany Estonia Greece Spain France Ireland Italy Republic of Cyprus Lithuania Latvia Luxembourg Hungary Malta The Netherlands Austria Poland Portugal Romania Slovenia Slovakia Finland Sweden The United Kingdom Croatia Turkey Terminal Education Age, meaning age at which the respondent left full-time education Readers are reminded that survey results are estimations, the accuracy of which rests upon the sample size and upon the observed percentages. - 4 - ... - tailieumienphi.vn