Long-term care: an overview.

Abstract

This brief provides an overview of long-term care (LTC), a term that refers to a broad range of health and supportive services delivered in a variety of service settings, including people's own homes and nursing homes. People of all ages and with many different health conditions may need LTC. Although the demand for these services is increasing, funding sources for LTC remain unstable. Moreover, lack of societal agreement about the goals of LTC makes it difficult to establish an effective LTC policy for the future. This brief discusses these issues and reviews the key challenges that must be confronted in order to build a strong infrastructure for LTC.