CARING FOR DEPENDENT PERSONS: CONSTITUTIONAL FIT, CURRENT LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND REGULATORY SHORTCOMINGS

Abstract

More than fifteen years have passed since Law 39/2006 was approved, which created the System for Autonomy and Dependency Care in Spain. Current initiatives seek to reconfigure the present model of long-term care towards a new regulation focused on respect for the rights of those who receive care. Related to this situation on the regulation of long-term care in Spain, this article has two objectives. The first objective is to explore the legal-constitutional framework in which the regulation of long-term care is framed, considering the related constitutional rights and principles, as well as studying the constitutional provisions in relation to the distribution of powers between the different territorial entities in matters of care and provision of social services. The second objective is to outline a list of shortcomings of the current long term care system in Spain which should be ideally addressed by future regulations. For this, the main characteristics of the current regulation are studied and subsequently those problems that have arisen in the application of the Law are analysed, such as administrative procedural obstacles, the lack of professionalization of care and of social and health care coordination, and the insufficient attention to the preventive and personal dimensions of dependency and care.