Health promotion for older people in Lithuania: Between bureaucratic and financial constraints

The health system in Lithuania has a strong focus on hospital treatment. Overall, there is a lack of sufficient funds explicitly devoted to public health. This country report draws upon several national reports focused on the Lithuanian health system and other country-specific sources in order to outline the major institutional and financing challenges for health promotion in Lithuania, specifically for older adults. As suggested in our review, the key problems in public health services in Lithuania, including health promotion for older persons, are the bureaucratic and financial constraints, a lack of intersectoral cooperation, staff shortages and capacity problems. The implementations of public health initiatives greatly depend on the political will and the government’s ability to implement policies, which are still weak in Lithuania. Moreover, the public health legislation lacks clarity and fails to provide an adequate base for local-level evidence-based interventions. Concrete action plans, as those recently developed in the area of healthy aging and health inequalities, are needed to provide guidance for health promotion among older adults.