On March 30, the Public Policy and Administration Centre, with the support of the Open Society Foundations, presented a vision for a state home care program.
The need for efficient, organized home care services became particularly topical during times of pandemics. Today, home care services in the country are fragmented and disorganized and cannot meet the challenges posed by a pandemic or other factors. Care services with various content are provided in 28 municipalities of Georgia. Most of these are funded by private initiatives and donor assistance, with a number of services covered by municipal programs. Only four municipalities – Bolnisi, Zugdidi, Tkibuli, and Poti – fully finance home care services. These services include the provision of home health and social services, which are of a more targeted, specialized type.
Nationwide, the best home care services are organized in Tbilisi, where home care services began operating in 2012 as part of pilot projects with the technical assistance of the Home Care Coalition.
The vision developed by the NGOs is based on the experience gained in international and home care services in Georgia and takes into account the existing features of the country’s health and social systems. Under the proposed model, the primary role in providing home care services lies with the primary health care industry and it envisages the integration of evidence-based home care services into universal health care, service timeliness, and financial availability; this conforms to the integrated care model and is based on a biopsychosocial approach.
Home care involves maintaining, improving, and promoting health for the patient in their habitual living environment, developing adaptive capacity, and improving the quality of independent living through the provision of home care services.