Open AccessDevelopment and Difficulties of the Eldercare System in Croatia
Author(s) -
Ivana Dobrotić
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
društvena istraživanja/društvena istraživanja
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.18
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1848-6096
pISSN - 1330-0288
DOI - 10.5559/di.25.1.02
Subject(s) - professionalization , marketization , decentralization , socialism , sustainability , political science , economic growth , economic system , business , economics , market economy , communism , politics , ecology , china , law , biology
Rad analizira i sagledava karakter te posljedice reformina području sustava skrbi za starije osobe u Hrvatskoj,stavljajući reforme u komparativnu perspektivu i prihvaćajućidosadašnje spoznaje o učincima sličnih reformi u europskimzemljama. Analiza počinje sa socijalizmom, u koji sežupočeci razvoja javnopolitičkog okvira, te se nastavlja1990-ih, godinama koje su obilježene pluralizacijompružatelja usluga te začecima decentralizacije, te 2000-ihdo danas, obilježene godinama koje su sve većomfragmentacijom sustava te profesionalizacijomizvaninstitucionalnih oblika skrbi. Rizik ovisnosti u starijojdobi ne dobiva potrebnu pozornost donositelja odluka.Reforme u zadnjih dvadesetak godina uglavnomnastoje obuzdati sve veće troškove skrbi za starije osobete smanjiti ulogu države, a ogledaju se u uvođenjuelemenata tržišta u proces pružanja skrbi, rastućojindividualizaciji i profesionalizaciji skrbi. Sustav skrbi zastarije osobe neuspješno se nosi sa sve većim potrebamaza uslugama dugotrajne skrbi te ostaje rezidualnogkaraktera, fragmentiran i organiziran po principimasustava socijalne skrbi. Buduće reforme morat će ozbiljnijepromisliti o dugoročnoj održivosti sustava, posebice oodrživim rješenjima financiranja dugotrajne skrbi.The paper analyses and considers the character andconsequences of reforms in the eldercare system in Croatia,putting reforms in comparative perspective and taking intoaccount the existing knowledge on the effects of similarreforms in European countries. The analysis begins with theperiod of socialism when the eldercare policy started todevelop and continues through the 1990s marked bypluralization of service providers and the beginnings ofdecentralization, and the period of the 2000s until todaymarked by growing fragmentation of the system and theprofessionalization of non-institutional forms of care. Thesocial risk of dependence in older age does not have thenecessary attention of policymakers. Reforms of the pasttwenty years aimed at cost-containment in the eldercaresystem and the reduced role of the state, and were reflectedin marketization, individualisation and professionalization ofcare. The eldercare system failed to cope with the growingdemand for services and remains of residual character,fragmented and characterized by social assistanceorientation. Future reforms will have to seriously address thesustainability of the eldercare system, in particularsustainable solutions of financing long-term care