London School of Economics and Political Science Researchers Target Public Health (Projecting Informal Care Demand among Older Koreans between 2020 and 2067): Health and Medicine – Public Health

Hospital & Nursing Home Daily

2022 JUN 29 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Hospital & Nursing Home Daily -- Fresh data on public health are presented in a new report. According to news reporting originating from London, United Kingdom, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “The number of Korean older people receiving informal care is expected to rise sharply due to aging population. This study makes projections of demand for informal care in community-dwelling older people aged 65 and over in Korea until 2067.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from London School of Economics and Political Science: “The study drew on data collected from waves 4-6 of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (2012-2016, * * n* * = 12,975). Population data published by Statistics Korea and data from the Long-term Care Insurance Statistical Yearbook for Korea were also used. A macro-simulation model was built to make the projections. The number of older people receiving informal care will increase from 0.71 million in 2020 to 2.2 million in 2067. Demand for informal care from adult children or relatives is projected to rise by 257%, much faster than the increase in demand for spousal care (164%). The estimates are sensitive to alternative assumptions about future mortality rates, fertility rates, patterns of migration, and the prevalence of functional disabilities in the population.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Demand for informal care in Korea will rise substantially in the coming decades, and the increase will be uneven for different groups of care users. Our analyses are not only relevant to the long-term care system for the general older population but also have profound implications for intensive users of long-term care in Korea. The findings highlight the importance of accurate identification of unmet needs in the population and timely delivery of government support to older people and their informal caregivers.”

For more information on this research see: Projecting Informal Care Demand among Older Koreans between 2020 and 2067. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022,19(6391):6391. (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - http://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph). The publisher for International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is MDPI AG.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116391.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Bo Hu, Care Policy and Evaluation Centre, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, London WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom. Additional authors for this research include Peter Shin, Eun-jeong Han, YongJoo Rhee.