Long-Term Care

Abstract

This chapter describes and analyses the current state of long-term care and long-term care policies around the world. In the first part, after briefly retracing historical developments, the chapter examines the ways in which welfare state policies address long-term care. It studies regulation, finance, and delivery of long-term care. In the second part, the interconnectedness of welfare state policies, the role of families, non-profit, and for-profit market sectors, as well as novel arrangements between state, market, and family, in particular migrant care work, move to the centre of analysis. The third part focuses on major challenges and perspectives for long-term care systems and for long-term care research. Starting from a discussion of future long-term care needs and costs, it addresses the role of families in long-term care, workforce issues, financial sustainability, the quality of care, and the role of technological advancement for long-term care. With increasing needs and the changing contexts in which care is organized, long-term care has become a key concern of welfare state development in the twenty-first century.