Meeting the current and future health-care needs of Sri Lanka’s ageing population.
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Date
2016-09
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia
Abstract
Sri Lanka is one of the fastest-ageing countries in the world. This rapid demographic
transition is expected to result in one quarter of the population being elderly by
the year 2041. Profound challenges face the country as a result, especially with
respect to planning adequate elderly-oriented services in the social-care and
health-care sectors. In response to this need, many initiatives have been put in
place to promote and protect the welfare of older people, and these rights have
been inscribed in law. Within the health sector, despite the wealth of policies and
initiatives in recent years, it is clear that the existing health infrastructure and
systems still require strengthening, reorientation and coordination, to meet the
needs of the growing population of elderly individuals. Lessons learnt from the
successes in reducing the maternal mortality ratio can be applied to strengthening
preventive services at the community level, to ensure active healthy ageing in
Sri Lanka. Engagement of specialist medical officers of health and general
practitioners to provide preventive and curative primary-care services would
reduce current pressures on higher-level services. Expansion of dedicated elderlycare
wards and units at the tertiary level would restructure care towards changing
patient demographics. The key to success in these strategies will be increasing
the proportions of the medical, nursing and allied professional cadres who have
been trained in geriatric medicine. Such capacity-building in the care of the elderly
will allow a move towards provision of multidisciplinary teams that can manage the
complex physical, social and psychological needs of the older patient.
Description
Keywords
ageing, elderly care, geriatrics, multidisciplinary care, Sri Lanka
Citation
WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health 2016;5(2): 96-102.