Fernandes Ritabelle, Osarch Sylvia, Allen Nancy E
Ritabelle Fernandes, MD, MPH, FACP, is an Associate Professor, Department of Geriatric Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii. Sylvia Osarch, DCHMS, is a Public Health Physician, Homebound Program, Belau National Hospital, Ministry of Health, Koror, Palau. Nancy E. Allen, BSN, RNC, CMC, is a Senior Consultant and Chief Executive Officer, Solutions for Care, Inc., Jacksonville Beach, Florida.
Home Healthc Now. 2018 Jul/Aug;36(4):252-257. doi: 10.1097/NHH.0000000000000668.
The Pacific Islands Geriatric Education Center of the University of Hawaii conducted situational assessments of caregivers, older adults, and healthcare professionals in the Republic of Palau. The findings revealed an urgent need for a solution to the identified crisis of an aging population, increasing chronic diseases and their corresponding impact on caregivers and society. In 2010, the National Healthcare Financing Act was signed into law, becoming Palau's first step in helping residents and workers in Palau pay for medical expenses. This program is referred to as the Health Care Fund and consists of two parts: National Health Insurance and Medical Savings Account. Advocacy and promotion of home healthcare services in Palau was facilitated by the Pacific Islands Geriatric Education Center. Because of these efforts, systems changed to establish home healthcare services and expand the Health Care Fund with a proposed Home Health Insurance Benefit from the National Health Insurance. This is a huge leap forward to improve access to care for older adults and homebound in Palau.
夏威夷大学太平洋岛屿老年医学教育中心对帕劳共和国的护理人员、老年人和医疗保健专业人员进行了情况评估。研究结果表明，迫切需要找到解决已确定的老龄化人口危机、慢性病增加及其对护理人员和社会相应影响的办法。2010年，《国家医疗保健融资法》签署成为法律，这是帕劳帮助帕劳居民和工人支付医疗费用的第一步。该计划被称为医疗保健基金，由两部分组成：国家医疗保险和医疗储蓄账户。太平洋岛屿老年医学教育中心推动了帕劳家庭医疗保健服务的宣传和推广。由于这些努力，相关系统发生了变化，建立了家庭医疗保健服务，并通过国家医疗保险提议的家庭健康保险福利扩大了医疗保健基金。这是朝着改善帕劳老年人和居家者获得医疗服务的机会迈出的巨大一步。
