N.

ATTILIA FARHANA BINTI MOHD ZALI

LLB (Hons.) 2018 | Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin
February 5th, 2018

A Protection Regime for Elder People’s Rights with Special Regard to

Ensuring Proper Maintenance and Care for the Elderly
State Represented : Austria

Each stage of life teach us about the value of living and the lessons are sometimes about
nurturing, love and compassions. Most people nowadays live longer and healthier as compared to past
generations as each year advancements in science and technology produces a better health care for
everyone. However, although some senior citizens are able to live normally and care for themselves,
we can not deny the fact that there are some of them are in need for better care. Throughout in this
world we are living, large numbers of older persons face challenges in so many ways such as
discriminations, poverty and abuse that severely restrict their rights and their contributions to the
society.

Focusing on some senior citizens are not lucky, they faces the issues such as one or more
illnesses that leave them limited and often co-dependent, lack of money to enjoy life, does not have
fixed income, families who abandon them as they cannot handle the responsibility of care taking,
depressions and loneliness. Hence, particular attention should be given to proving health care to the
very old, and to those who are incapacitated in their daily lives. This is particularly important when
some of the are suffering from mental disorders or from failure to adapt to the environment.

International and domestic government and non-government organisations (NGOs) have been
taking action as it is time that old persons deserving special care and attentions under human right
law. Their rights became a concern in the international community. In Austria, one of the countries in
Central Europe, has been adapting their own long-term care system for the elderly in which the social
welfare system in Austria is divided into three aspects; social insurance, social protection and social
protection.

Furthermore, with advancing age, the living conditions of the elderly make them more prone to
risk factors that might have adverse effects on their health. Generally, the Austria long-term care
(LTC) system is a combination of benefits in cash and in kind subject to certain eligibility criteria,
such as subject to Austrian citizenship (or persons legally equal to Austria citizens) or residence in
Austria, a permanent need for personal services and assistance owing to a physical, mental,

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psychological or sensory disability that is expected to last at least six months, a permanent need of
care for at least 50 hours per month and also the health-related need for care.

Basically, the system distinguishes between two main types of social services which are the
institutional care services and home-based services, nevertheless, the main focus is still on taking care
of the elderly such as the provision of the services of care in residential homes, nursing homes, day-
care centres, meals on wheels, transportations services, home cleaning and weekend help. Apart from
that, the services or supports for informal caregivers are also available, such as the financial support
for contributions to retirement plan, financial support for respite care, the family hospice leave
system. All persons in need of care, especially the elderly can receive benefits. In addition to the
uniform cash allowance, social services also provided for those in need of care such as the persons in
need of care should be able to choose freely among the services offered, the expansion of home-based
services has clear priority in relation to the expansion of institution-based facilities and the expansion
of new care services or facilities has to reduce the burden of caregiving for family members.

However there are still criticisms despite the system handled by the Austria, firstly, neither the
Austrian constitution nor the current or the last government has specified official goals for national
Austrian social policy as there is no strong tradition of stating health policy goals. There are no
detailed and quantifiable national health policy goals, apart from the obvious intention to provide all
necessary health care in a high-quality and financially sustainable way. Secondly, the most important
and influential feature of LTC provision in Austria is the LTC allowance. The introduction of this cash
benefit in 1993 aimed at providing LTC patients with the possibility to choose among settings of care,
most notably between moving to a specialised facility and remaining in one’s own home and
receiving all necessary care there, be it provided by professionals or by family members or other
relations. Last but not least, another frequent criticism is related to the lack of transparency regarding
various aspects. On the macro level, it is very hard to grasp the true costs of or the expenditure on
long-term care in Austria owing to a highly fragmented system, relying on nine differing provincial
legislations plus several municipal ways of naming, handling and financing respective services. The
lack of transparency at the national level continues with basic supply data. Even though some
provinces are already collecting structural data in order to compare and project services, other
provinces are still in the process of doing so.

Suggestions for the criticism, Austria shall indeed setting up their specific official goals for
national Austrian social policy in which it will contains all the required details regarding the health
policy goals. From here, Austria government can reconstruct all the necessary health care in a high-
quality, appropriately and financially in a better way. Plus, Austria can focus on the lack on
transparency of various data in order to ensure the LTC allowance does not abuse any rights of any
persons.

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 • Bibliography

Da Roit, B., B. Le Bihan and A. Österle (2007), “Long-term Care Policies in Italy, Austria and
France: Variations in Cash-for-Care Schemes”, Social & Administration, Vol. 41, No. 6, pp. 653-671.
Federal Ministry of Social Security, Generations and Consumer Protection (2006), Provision
for long-term care in Austria (in three languages), Vienna.
Grilz-Wolf, M., C. Strümpel, K. Leichsenring and K. Komp (2003), Providing integrated health
and social care for older persons in Austria, PROCARE National Report Austria, European Center
for Social Welfare Policy and Research, Vienna.
Hammer, E. and A. Österle (2003), “Welfare State Policy and Informal Long-Term Care Giving
in Austria: Older Gender Divisions and New Stratification Processes Among Women”, Journal of
Social Policy, Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 37-53.

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