Use of care services in relation to proximity to death among older people: evidence from Finland

An analysis of register data for Finland shows that the use of health and social care services by older people varies by both age and proximity to death. Acute health care use depends more on proximity to death, suggesting that the need for such services will be less than might have been expected given the likely increase in numbers of older people. However, this is more than offset by a greater use of residential long-term care especially by the “old old”. The balance of care is likely to shift from acute to long-term care services.