North Macedonia: barriers to accessing long-term care

The InCARE project collected data on attitudes, experiences, and expectations on long-term care through an online survey between September 2021 – January 2022 across European countries, including North Macedonia.  One part of the survey focused on barriers that individuals faced (or that their loved ones faced) in accessing long-term care services.

The survey found that affordability of care is a major challenge for respondents in North Macedonia (see Graph results above). About every 2 in 5 respondents stated cost as a barrier to residential and home care in the country, surpassing that reported at the EU-level, indicating the need for stronger financial support. Lower income respondents are particularly vulnerable to unaffordable care costs. These findings align with previous research in the country that indicates cost to be a preventative factor for many in using care (see Gjorgjev, 2021).

Availability of care services is also an issue: nearly 1 in every 4 for home care and 1 in every 5 for residential care reported availability barriers. Rural-dwelling individuals particularly face availability barriers for both home and residential care, emphasizing the need for increased investment in infrastructure outside of cities.

Full results for North Macedonia and other Eastern European countries will shortly be available. Check out the InCARE project page to keep up to date with the latest findings.