Article published by Pablo Villalobos Dintrans, MICARE adjunct researcher, Trinidad Alliende, Jorge Browne, Young Researcher at MICARE, Isabel Contrucci, Alejandra-Ximena Araya, MICARE Research Associate, and Josefa Palacios.

The debate on Long-Term Care (LTC) and the need to establish LTC systems has gained global consensus, with international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) encouraging countries to take action. During the recent presidential elections in Chile, several candidates made proposals highlighting the need to implement new solutions to address the growing demands for care services in the country. Using the WHO LTC systems framework, this article analyzed the proposals made during the 2021 presidential campaign in Chile, identifying covered areas and gaps in the candidates’ proposals.

Key Findings

The results show that the proposals predominantly focus on dimensions such as governance of the LTC system, workforce, and service provision, with significant gaps in terms of financing, information, and system innovation strategies.

Conclusions

The findings are relevant to support the efforts of the new government in implementing an LTC system in Chile, particularly considering that establishing a national care system is one of the main challenges the new government has decided to tackle. This initiative also aims to shed light on political discussions in other countries regarding the development of LTC systems and policies.