Public policies for elderly care in Spain and Brazil: a comparative study of vertical character from the state to local

Abstract

This article is the result of an investigation focused on the analysis of public policies for elderly care in Spain and Brazil. Our concern was to know the mechanisms of elaboration and application of these policies, as well as the possible connections between the national, regional and municipal policies of each country analyzed. The selected method was Compared Case Study (CCS), which allows the researcher to investigate in an effective way the impact of a policy and its applicability. The results show that in Spain policies are materialized in the perspective of education and prevention of diseases and limitations arising from aging process, while in Brazil, the guidelines for active aging are in place, but the materialization takes place, primarily, on curative measures.