A growing evidence base suggests that health insurance in poor areas can improve people?s access to health care. But the poorest in these areas do not seem to benefit much. Health insurance programs, generally, have not helped in reaching out to the poorest or improving their health care use. And whether...
Gender differences in health and in how well health systems and health care
services meet the needs of women and men are well known: in Europe, there
are variations in terms of life expectancy, the risk of mortality and morbidity,
health behaviours and in the use of health care services. There is also in...
All countries in Europe are experiencing an ageing of their populations, a trend
that is projected to continue until at least the middle of the twenty-first century.
This process is often regarded as a major cause of upward pressure on health
care costs. However, analyses of health care expenditure show ...
Improved health care, lifestyle changes and changing demography mean that
more people are living longer and often with chronic diseases that cannot
currently be cured. Advances in health care that support longer life are to be
celebrated, but health care systems cannot cope with the increasing incidence
...
Key messagesPolicy issue and associated policy challenges• Population health is influenced by a variety of factors, many of whichrequire action outside the health system.• The health and socioeconomic costs of the key contributors to poor healthin Europe are substantial. Many of these health problems...
Policy issues• Health technology assessment (HTA) is an important tool for informing effective regulation of the diffusion and use of health technologies.• The key policy issues surrounding the use of HTA fall into three areas: (a) the bodies, decision-makers and other stakeholders involved, (b) the ...
The optimal balance between institutional, home-based and community care
for older adults requires an effective mix of organizational, funding and delivery
mechanisms for target populations. This spans health and social care, and the
coordination of care must respect older people’s care preferences and...
The terms vertical and integrated are widely used in health service delivery, but
each describes a range of phenomena. In practice, the dichotomy between
them is not rigid, and the extent of verticality or integration varies between
programmes – including (1) a vertically funded, managed, delivered and...
Health systems have developed at different speeds, and with differing degrees
of complexity throughout the twentieth century, reflecting the diverse political
and social conditions in each country.
Notwithstanding their diversity, all systems, however, share a common reason
for their existence, namely th...
“Grey zone” treatments are those that rely upon the patient’s judgement of associated benefits versus harms. When clinicians judge patients are eligible for “grey zone” treatments, their acceptance should be consistent with informed patients’ values. The question is how can one obtain informe...
