Health policy in the Baltic countries since the beginning of the 1990s

Bankauskaitė, Vaida; O’Connor, Julia S.

doi:10.1016/j.healthpol.2007.10.017

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…In southern Europe a more liberal model (Ibid) is used, with more responsibility being placed on the individual. However, for the new member states from Eastern EU no such clear welfare state model can be identified; these countries are in transition from a model from the Soviet Union to a model adjusted to Western healthcare and social services (Bankauskaite and O'Connor 2008). Different policies among EU member states, due for example to socio-demographic and economic situations, may lead to unequal opportunities for European citizens to achieve and/or maintain health.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A European Perspective on the Service Delivery Systems for Assistive Technology – Differences and Similarities Between Latvia and Sweden

Kylberg

Löfqvist

Tomsone

et al. 2014

J Cross Cult Gerontol

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National laws and regulations on service delivery systems (SDS) for assistive technology (AT) in Europe aim to support the activity and participation of people with disabilities. The aim of this paper was to study similarities and differences in the SDS for AT of one Eastern and one Western EU member state. The legislation and regulations, and their operationalization were described from the perspective of key actors, with a focus on the ageing population. Semi-structured interviews (N = 14) were conducted in Sweden and Latvia. The informants had various professional backgrounds and organizational roles, and represented different areas of work. Similarities found were connected to legislation and policy, the aim of AT provision, the growth of a private sector and how financial resources affect the SDS. Differences were related to the availability of AT, and to how, and for and by whom the devices were provided, with Latvia prioritizing certain groups over others and excluding older people. In Latvia, despite it not being stated in the legislation, a medical perspective on AT provision was applied, whereas in Sweden, in congruence with the legislation, the perspective was explicitly biopsychosocial. Despite similarities on the legislation and policy level, interpreted based on the perceptions of professionals there are marked differences between Latvia and Sweden in the operationalization of the SDS of AT. To support activity and participation for the ageing population, the services connected to AT need to be carefully thought out and executed, making efficient use of financial resources and professional competencies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A European Perspective on the Service Delivery Systems for Assistive Technology – Differences and Similarities Between Latvia and Sweden

Kylberg

Löfqvist

Tomsone

et al. 2014

J Cross Cult Gerontol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In particular, differences in the pace of political reforms and in economic trends have certainly played a role in giving an advantage to Estonia, where reforms started earlier and were implemented more quickly than in other two countries (Hellman 1998;Bankauskaite and O'Connor 2008). But we showed here that at least some specific health measures had a major impact.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…3.2.1.1 Primary Health Care In all three countries, substantial efforts were made to clearly distinguish primary and specialised health care levels by creating effective networks of family medical practices. However, whilst all three countries succeeded in introducing modern family medicine programmes into medical schools as early as the early 1990s (Bankauskaite and O'Connor 2008), notable differences can be seen across the three countries in terms of implementing networks of GPs. In Estonia, the GP-based primary care system was fully launched in 1998 (Koppel et al 2008).…”

Section: Different Approaches To (And Speeds Of) Health Care Reformmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The goal was to reduce the role of hospitals, allowing them instead to concentrate on modernising their facilities to provide more efficient secondary and tertiary services (Bankauskaite and O'Connor 2008;Tragakes et al 2008;Koppel et al 2008). In both areas, Estonia seems to have been the most successful and Lithuania the least, with Latvia's performance falling in the middle.…”

Section: Different Approaches To (And Speeds Of) Health Care Reformmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Estonia was also the leader amongst Baltic countries in introducing an effective health care financing system that is mainly based on a mandatory and universal health insurance (Bankauskaite and O'Connor 2008). Following the adoption of the Health Insurance Act in 1991, regional sickness funds were rapidly introduced in 1992.…”

Section: Health Care Financingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recent Life Expectancy Divergence in Baltic Countries

2011

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Until the end of the 1990s, mortality patterns and trends in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were remarkably similar. However, from the year 2000 onwards, life expectancy trends in the three countries started to diverge. In particular, sustainable progress in Estonia over the period 2000-2007 contrasts with stagnation in Latvia, and even worsening trends in Lithuania. These contradictory changes seem to be mainly explained by contrasting dynamics in mortality from cardiovascular diseases, external causes of death and digestive system diseases. Whereas cardiovascular and external-cause mortality declined in Estonia and Latvia, worsening or stagnation of mortality from these causes of death was observed in Lithuania. The negative mortality changes in Lithuania were also reinforced by a striking increase in mortality from alcohol-related digestive system diseases. The findings suggest that the divergence in health trends between the three countries may be attributable to their varying degrees of success in implementing structural health care reforms and specific health policy measures. By contrast, the very recent improvement (since 2008) is parallel in the three countries and is largely because of the introduction of rather similar anti-alcohol measures.

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Changes in Home and Health over Nine Years among very Old People in Latvia – Results from the ENABLE-AGE Project

Löfqvist

Tomsone

Iwarsson

et al. 2016

J Cross Cult Gerontol

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To meet the needs of an increasing, heterogeneous, ageing population it is imperative to understand links between home and health. In Latvia, only limited research targeting the health and home situation of very old people is available. Consequently, the aim of this study was to describe how the home environment and aspects of health have changed over nine years between 2002 and 2011 for very old people in Latvia, living in their home environment. This study is based on the Latvian part of the cross-national European ENABLE-AGE Project comprising data on objective, as well as perceived, aspects of home and health. Longitudinal data from those involved on both data collection occasions (N = 59) was used. At the nine-year follow-up, participants were between 86 and 90 years of age, still living in their own homes. The results show that not only health aspects varied along the ageing process, objective and perceived aspects of home also changed. The physical as well as the cognitive and emotional bonding to the home significantly increased i.e. aspects of meaning such as familiarity and feeling safe in your home, privacy and independence became more important for the very old participants over time. Life satisfaction increased over the years even though objective health factors decreased. Since aspects of home as well as health can be assumed to impact on the outcome of ageing, the situation for this age group in Latvia must be further studied in order to develop suitable and appropriate social and health services, policies and living conditions.

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Health policy in the Baltic countries since the beginning of the 1990s

Cited by 15 publications

References 9 publications

A European Perspective on the Service Delivery Systems for Assistive Technology – Differences and Similarities Between Latvia and Sweden

A European Perspective on the Service Delivery Systems for Assistive Technology – Differences and Similarities Between Latvia and Sweden

Recent Life Expectancy Divergence in Baltic Countries

Changes in Home and Health over Nine Years among very Old People in Latvia – Results from the ENABLE-AGE Project

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