Monitoring Elderly Healthcare and Social Services

Abstract

High demand for elderly healthcare and social services is a major policy issue in many countries facing with increasing ageing populations. The community and the older adults are more likely seeking to pursue quality healthcare delivery in medical treatments and age-friendly environments. To alleviate public concerns, governments should design and promulgate integrated care standards to maintain high-quality, holistic and humanistic services in healthcare practices to allow for ageing with dignity. This chapter examines measures and strategies to monitor the utilisation of the large social resources effectively, efficiently and flexibly in the healthcare system and social services for the elderly. Performance indicators include external accountability and internal quality improvement. However, there are barriers to successful implementation, including poor collaboration between professional agencies and the government, failure to involve stakeholders, underfunding and lack of government commitment. Similar measures have been established by various countries and they are associated with the higher standards of quality, services and convenience and ensuring that the service areas are responsive to the target groups and clients. The performance standards can be further developed and enhanced by taking references from policies and strategies in other countries. This means the quality of health services would become better monitored and assured. Practically, it will not only benefit the older adults but also the whole community, aiming to provide quality professional services. In essence, monitoring elderly healthcare and social services in a more humane and comfortable way should be the goal of all societies. Policy makers, politicians and government bureaucrats should be making continuing improvement in healthcare and social services, facilities and delivery conditions for the older adults in the promotion of ageing with dignity and safety because health is essential and vital for the whole community.