Overuse of institutional care for children in Europe

Institutional care is commonplace

The recent special issue of the BMJ on Europe in transition identified the problems associated with the reform of healthcare systems from centralised state bureaucracies to health insurance and market led services. The editorial on mental health in post-communist countries highlighted the overuse of institutions for people with mental health problems and intellectual disability and the lack of a public health approach involving primary care and community services.1 A recent survey by the University of Birmingham and the WHO regional office for Europe reported overuse of institutional care for young children in need—with and without disabilities.2 However, institutional care of young children was not restricted to countries in transition and was common throughout the European region (table 1). Institutions were defined as residential health or social care facilities with 11 or more children, where children stay for more than three months without a primary care giver. Small institutions had the capacity for 11-24 children and large institutions 25 or more children, regardless of age. …