The international team on a parallel audit concerning government preparedness for an aging population, with SAI's from Europe and South America, held its second meeting
The international team on a parallel audit concerning government preparedness for an aging population, with SAI's from Europe and South America, held its second meeting on February 10th, 2025. Representatives from nine SAI's (Israel, Albania, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Malta, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, and Slovakia) attended the meeting. The parallel audit focuses on four areas: Comprehensive Governmental Plans and Budgetary Aspects for an Aging Population; Preparing the Health System for an Aging Population – Community-Based Elderly Care; Preparing the Welfare System for an Aging Population – Well-being and Quality of Life After Retirement; and Preparing the Pension System for an Aging Population.
The audit forms a comprehensive framework for meeting the challenges of an aging population. During the meeting, SAI Israel presented a detailed overview of the sub-topics that the audit addresses. The audit segment on comprehensive government plans and budgeting addresses good practices, distributing resources according to need and declared policy, and comparing short and long-term plans. A key component of this audit segment focuses on an integrative policy fostering coordination of goals and a measurement system for evaluating policies and strategies.
Parallel Audit: Goverment Preparedness for an Aging Population
Health care is a prime consideration for the older community. The audit of this subject discusses community-based healthcare. Home hospitalization and home medical treatment are staple services for aiding older people. Audit sub-topics include dedicated strategy, anticipated workforce shortages, budget allocation, and nursing home care. The audit will facilitate an international comparison by mapping the community-based health services for the older population in each participating country.
Social well-being is an essential component of life quality. Audit topics considered include accessibility and provision of social services, identifying, measuring, and treating loneliness, and financing well-being services for senior citizens.
Pension payments form the backbone of personal finance in retirement. Extended life spans pose an actuarial challenge to pension funds. The audit features a multinational comparison of pension arrangements, pension participation rates, eligibility requirements, and benefits taxation. Another audit aspect concerns the pension systems' financial stability and sustainability, given the challenges raised by the demographic growth of this population segment.
The parallel audit accentuates the added value of a holistic approach. Combining the findings and good practices noted will enable governments and program providers to integrate better and efficiently streamline services to the aging population.
