[The supply of long-term care services for the elderly in Italian regions]

In Italy, as in other European Countries, ageing population drives policymakers to redesign the Long Term Care (LTC) system for the elderly. This study analyses the LTC supply for elderly considering the distribution of different components: formal care (institutional and alternative), and informal one in Italian regions. An observational, cross-sectional, ecological study was carried out using statistical data drawn from the Italian National Institute of Statistics and Ministry of Health referred to 2004. Factorial analysis selected the most important components of LTC phenomenon. These components were used for the application of cluster analysis. Cluster Analysis was performed on main components of Factorial Analysis. Then, the ratio of mean value in each cluster on national mean value was calculated for each indicator. Factorial analysis showed three factors characterized by autovalue > 1 that accounted for 61% of the total variance. Cluster analysis highlighted four groups of regions with different way of supply. High level of home care (141,9) and social network (121,3) emerged in group 1. High level of family who received help and family paying a caregiver (108,3 e 121,1) resulted in group 2. High level of no profit LTC (168) supply was reported in group 3. High level of public residential care (451,4) was found in group 4. These remarkable differences in the way of service supply, highlight the need of improvement of the information system on LTC. Thus LTC policy and practice might be better supported both in planning and organizational targets.