Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Podiatry, University of Seville, 9 Avenzoar, Seville, 41009, Spain.
Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy, and Podiatry, University of Seville, 9 Avenzoar, Seville, 41009, Spain.
BMC Geriatr. 2024 Oct 18;24(1):845. doi: 10.1186/s12877-024-05430-2.
Recently, the countries in the Mediterranean basin (which share cultural ties) have been showing a common trend of declining social support for the elderly, with deficiencies in social care models for this demographic. Thus, this Delphi panel study analyzed the gaps in social and integrated care among the participating countries in a European research project.
This three-round Delphi panel study focused on the European countries of Greece and Spain and the non-European countries of Egypt, Lebanon, and Tunisia. In this project, experts were identified according to their level of expertise in the subject matter, their gender, and their membership in different social groups. Subsequently, they were asked to identify the current situation of social care, set future goals, and locate the gaps regarding the social and healthcare models for older people in the participating countries. The median score (Mdn) and interquartile range (IQR) were calculated to assess the degree of consensus on the different priorities.
Among the participating countries, there was a lack of state agreements to maintain social care models, a lack of coordination between public and private institutions to provide social care services, territorial inequalities in terms of access and coverage of rights, and job insecurity for professionals. The desired situation was to integrate social and healthcare services with a person-centered social care model, thus promoting autonomy and empowering users and families in participation and decision-making.
This Delphi study reveals significant disparities in social and healthcare policies for older adults across Mediterranean countries, highlighting shared challenges and specific national needs. European nations like Greece and Spain face fragmented systems, while non-European countries such as Lebanon, Egypt, and Tunisia lack specialized geriatric services and social security. All countries urgently need better professional training, social and economic empowerment of older adults, and integrated national strategies. These findings offer key insights for policymakers to develop equitable, sustainable solutions for aging populations.
最近，地中海盆地国家（具有文化联系）呈现出对老年人社会支持下降的共同趋势，针对这一年龄段的社会关怀模式存在不足。因此，这项德尔菲小组研究分析了参与欧洲研究项目的国家在社会和综合关怀方面的差距。
这项三轮德尔菲小组研究侧重于希腊和西班牙这两个欧洲国家，以及埃及、黎巴嫩和突尼斯这三个非欧洲国家。在该项目中，根据专家在主题方面的专业水平、性别以及在不同社会群体中的成员身份来确定专家。随后，要求他们确定社会关怀的现状、设定未来目标，并确定参与国家老年人的社会和医疗保健模式存在的差距。采用中位数（Mdn）和四分位距（IQR）来评估对不同重点的一致性程度。
在参与国家中，缺乏维持社会关怀模式的国家协议，公共和私营机构之间在提供社会关怀服务方面缺乏协调，在获得和覆盖权利方面存在地域不平等，以及专业人员工作不稳定。理想情况是整合社会和医疗保健服务，建立以个人为中心的社会关怀模式，从而促进自主性，并赋予用户和家庭参与和决策的权力。
这项德尔菲研究揭示了地中海国家老年人社会和医疗保健政策方面的显著差异，突出了共同的挑战和特定的国家需求。希腊和西班牙等欧洲国家面临着零碎的系统，而黎巴嫩、埃及和突尼斯等非欧洲国家则缺乏专门的老年病服务和社会保障。所有国家都迫切需要更好的专业培训、赋予老年人社会和经济权力以及综合的国家战略。这些发现为政策制定者提供了关键见解，以制定公平、可持续的老龄化人口解决方案。
