Community Based Systems Of Long Term Care

An enlightening review of the successes and failures of several federally funded community-based projects that offered elderly persons an alternative to nursing home care. Policymakers, caregivers, and students of public administration and gerontology must read this valuable book.

Among the issues confronting America is long-term care for frail, older persons and others with chronic conditions and functional limitations that limit their ability to care for themselves. Improving the Quality of Long-Term Care takes a comprehensive look at the quality of care and quality of life in long-term care, including nursing homes, home health agencies, residential care facilities, family members and a variety of others. This book describes the current state of long-term care, identifying problem areas and offering recommendations for federal and state policymakers. Who uses long-term care? How have the characteristics of this population changed over time? What paths do people follow in long term care? The committee provides the latest information on these and other key questions. This book explores strengths and limitations of available data and research literature especially for settings other than nursing homes, on methods to measure, oversee, and improve the quality of long-term care. The committee makes recommendations on setting and enforcing standards of care, strengthening the caregiving workforce, reimbursement issues, and expanding the knowledge base to guide organizational and individual caregivers in improving the quality of care.

Who pays for long-term care? Discover the unique approaches of seven countries around the Pacific Rim! Long-Term Care in the Twenty-First Century discusses policies and programs for long-term care in seven countries around the Asia-Pacific Rim: the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Each country is covered in two chapters, one to examine the philosophy and values that underlie its approaches to long-term care, the second to discuss its systems of service delivery. These thoughtful analyses, backed up with facts and figures, explain program successes and failures in the context of demographic and social trends and with reference to the differing political systems across the region. Its breadth of perspective and insightful examination of cultural differences make Long-Term Care in the Twenty-First Century an important contribution to the international comparative study of aging. The programs in the United States, Australia, and Canada offer a fascinating contrast with the longer-established and very different programs in the Asian countries, including Japan, the world’s oldest country. Long-Term Care in the Twenty-First Century provides practical information on essential gerontological issues for each country, including: financing arrangements development of client classification systems case management in both residential and community-based systems key source documents, references, and Web sites political and cultural influences home-based and family caregiving This valuable book provides a critical record of developments in the current transition period. This multicultural perspective contributes a chance for all countries to learn from the experience of others in dealing with a problem that is increasingly important as the world population ages. Long-Term Care in the Twenty-First Century is an essential resource for scholars, service providers, policymakers, and anyone concerned with care of the aged, not only in Pacific Rim countries but around the world.