The existence of welfare states in the front of Long-Term Care in Greece

ABSTRACT

Achieving the well-being of the population is largely achieved through the existence of a welfare state and the adoption of a social policy commensurate with the socio-economic, political, and cultural form of each country. A bibliographic review of relevant articles was made in the Medline / Pubmed and Google Scholar Electronic Databases as well as in books, scientific journals and websites with the help of keywords. Sources from print media were also sought. The keywords used were welfare state, long-term care, demographic aging, informal caregivers, challenges. The typologies of welfare states by Titmuss, Espring-Andersen and Ferrera are important tools for comparing different welfare states in terms of state, market, and family contribution. However, they do not cope with modern reality, as they do not consider demographic aging, the crisis of the institution of the family, low birth rate, migration, and the economic crisis. The existence of Long-Term health Care (LTC) due to the strong demographic aging is an indication of the action of a welfare state that aims at the well-being of the population. Formal and especially informal caregivers play an important role in providing MFY. In addition, it is provided in both public and private structures. In Greece, the long-term health care sector is underdeveloped compared to the rest of Europe, with limited government intervention supporting the family's contribution. The existence of a welfare state in Greece is necessary to address potential emerging risks, such as demographic aging and can be achieved by meeting emerging challenges such as meeting the needs of long-term care services, improving quality, their organization and governance.