Articles

Costa Rica’s Care Workforce: Recruitment, Skills and the Professionalization of Long-Term Care
Costa Rica cannot expand long-term care without expanding the workforce capable of delivering it. This article examines how SINCA, training, competency certification, Cuidar.cr, employment conditions and workforce planning are beginning to shape a more professional care sector—and why recruitment alone will not be enough without stronger career pathways, supervision, geographic capacity, continuity and recognition of care as skilled work. Read more...
Women, Care and Inequality in Costa Rica: The Gendered Economics of Unpaid Support
Unpaid care sustains households and long-term support across Costa Rica, but its economic consequences fall disproportionately on women. This article examines how care shapes women’s time, employment, income, social security and future economic security, and why Costa Rica’s developing care system creates an opportunity to redistribute responsibility across families, communities, employers, formal services and the state. Read more...
Family Caregiving in Costa Rica: The Hidden Infrastructure of Long-Term Care
Much of Costa Rica’s long-term care is delivered not by formal services but by relatives supporting older and disabled family members every day. This article examines the scale and value of unpaid caregiving, its unequal impact on women and employment, and how SINCA, respite, training, home support and better caregiver assessment could create a more sustainable partnership between families and the formal care system. Read more...
Rehabilitation in Costa Rica: Connecting Healthcare, Disability Support and Community Life
Rehabilitation can determine whether illness, injury or functional decline becomes a lasting barrier to independence and participation. This article examines Costa Rica’s rehabilitation pathway from CCSS healthcare and specialist CENARE services to disability rights, assistive support and community life, exploring how stronger transitions, workforce capacity, accessibility and outcome measurement can turn clinical recovery into meaningful everyday functioning. Read more...
Mental Health and Community Support in Costa Rica: Moving Beyond Clinical Care
Costa Rica is repositioning mental health as a responsibility extending beyond specialist treatment into primary care, prevention, communities, workplaces and social inclusion. This article examines how the National Mental Health Policy 2024–2034, CCSS services, primary care, community support and intersectoral action can create more continuous pathways while protecting rights, strengthening recovery and responding earlier when people's mental health deteriorates. Read more...
Supporting People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Costa Rica Across the Life Course
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Costa Rica may interact with education, healthcare, disability services, employment programs, families and community organizations across their lives. This article examines how Costa Rica can turn its rights-based disability framework into stronger life-course support, with particular attention to transition into adulthood, supported decision-making, employment, family sustainability, community participation, workforce capability and planning for an aging population. Read more...
Independent Living in Costa Rica: Personal Assistance, Choice and Community Participation
Independent living does not mean living without support. In Costa Rica, Law No. 9379 provides a distinctive framework for personal autonomy, human personal assistance and equal recognition before the law. This article examines how those principles translate into everyday choices about home, work, relationships and community participation, and how personal assistance, accessible environments, workforce capacity, funding and Costa Rica’s developing care system can work together without replacing individual control. Read more...
Disability Support in Costa Rica: Rights, Inclusion and Community-Based Services
Costa Rica has built a substantial legal framework around disability rights, accessibility and personal autonomy, but meaningful inclusion depends on how those principles operate in everyday life. This article examines the roles of CONAPDIS, Law No. 7600 and Law No. 9379, alongside healthcare, personal assistance, community support, employment, accessibility and family networks, and considers how Costa Rica can connect disability policy with practical pathways that strengthen choice, participation and independent living. Read more...
Dementia Care in Costa Rica: Building Support Across Families, Communities and Services
Dementia increasingly tests how well Costa Rica can connect healthcare, family caregiving, community support and its developing long-term care system. This article examines the pathway from recognition and diagnosis through progressive support, including CCSS services, caregiver needs, rights and autonomy, workforce capability, community inclusion and the role SINCA could play in creating greater continuity as cognitive and functional needs change. Read more...
Healthy Aging in Costa Rica: Prevention, Independence and Longer Lives
Costa Rica’s longer life expectancy is shifting the policy challenge from extending life toward maintaining health, function, autonomy and participation across later life. This article examines how primary healthcare, prevention, age-friendly communities, physical and cognitive capacity, social participation and earlier support can help Costa Rica translate longevity into healthier aging while reducing avoidable dependency and pressure on families and long-term care. Read more...
Community-Based Support for Older People in Costa Rica: Beyond Institutional Care
Costa Rica’s response to population aging increasingly depends on support that sits between family care, healthcare and residential services. This article examines Red de Cuido, centros diurnos, community organizations, municipalities and the developing CECUIDAM model, exploring how stronger local networks can protect independence, support families, reduce isolation and identify changing needs before older people require more intensive care. Read more...
Residential Long-Term Care in Costa Rica: Quality, Capacity and Changing Demand
Residential long-term care remains a necessary part of Costa Rica’s evolving care system even as national policy prioritizes support at home. This article examines the role of hogares de larga estancia, how CONAPAM funding and oversight interact with health regulation, and how rising dependency, workforce pressures, safeguarding, infrastructure and stronger community services could reshape the purpose and quality of residential care. Read more...