Abstract
Background: This contribution was based on several years' worth of research and observations and although it does not have the typical nature of research, the observations and findings made can be applied when creating similar analyses, which will form the basis for more detailed and long-term research at the international level that can be built on even during the period of COVID-19 and similar epidemics. Creating a long-term sustainable long-term care (LTC) system even during the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic is one of the EU member states' priorities.
However, the differences in the LTC care system between developed and less developed EU member states are striking. Not only is the division of responsibilities for the provision of care between the public and private sectors different, but so is the boundary between the provision of health and social care.
Priorities in the field of LTC include financial sustainability, support for home care, and quality standards improvement. Many clients prefer the so-called informal care provided by family members or other loved ones, where the benefit of informal providers is the fact that they bear the economic, health and social consequences on a voluntary basis and draw public funds from resources designed to support informal care in LTC.
Different approaches to the LTC system's funding are applied. However, less developed EU member states, in particular, are facing challenges in the provision of LTC, which they will have to address, and one of the priorities is the introduction of public, compulsory LTC insurance.
Conclusion: All academics agree that, especially in the context of the consequences of COVID-19, it will be necessary for the foreign professional community to pay attention at the level of professional discussions and reflections, or theoretical academic and empirical studies, to the most difficult challenges that will need to be addressed in the near future, namely: the issue of the manageability of the population's ageing, as well as the sustainability of LTC systems, not only in developed or less developed EU member states but also on a global scale; the amount of pensions, setting or adjusting the LTC insurance rate, issues of informal care, as well as the system of preventive visits in the home environment to those dependent on LTC.