The research project ‘Geographical equity and decentralised policies: which statistical indicators and which normative frameworks of interpretation should be used to evaluate public policy aimed at elderly people in need of care? ’ aims to examine geographical equity in the management of care for loss of independence in France.
Recent research highlights the existence of significant differences between departments in many aspects of care provision for older people with reduced independence. The existence of inter-departmental differences is not unexpected. The scope for manoeuvre afforded by the national legislative framework, combined with the ‘lead’ role entrusted to departmental councils, effectively leads them to develop local policy objectives, paving the way for differing outcomes of public policy. Furthermore, the departments face varying external constraints – whether demographic, epidemiological or economic – all of which constitute potential sources of variation in terms of outcomes relating to access to care services. Whilst these geographical differences regularly raise questions in public debate regarding the equity of public policy towards dependent older people, it is nevertheless the case that the underlying standard of equity is rarely made explicit, making it difficult to assess and measure which geographical inequalities would be unacceptable and should therefore be eliminated.
