This study reports on the latest trends in long-term care policies in nineteen OECD countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It studies lessons learned from countries that undertook major reforms over the past decade. Trends in expenditure, financing and the number of care recipients are analysed based on new data on cross-country differences. Special attention is given to experience with programmes that provide consumers of services with a choice of care options, including cash to family caregivers. Concise country profiles of long-term care systems and an overview on demography and living situations of older persons make this complex policy field more accessible.

Chapter 1. An Overview of Long-term Care Programmes and Expenditures
-Introduction
-The nature of long-term care services-Differences in spending levels for long-term care services
Chapter 2. Towards a Continuum of Care: Bringing Services Together
-Introduction
-The continuum of care
-National measures to improve the continuum of care
-Shifting the balance towards home-based care
-Services to support careers
-Conclusions
Chapter 3. Consumer Direction and Choice in Long-term Care.
-Introduction
-Arrangements to increase consumer-direction and choice when receiving long-term care at home
-Aspects of programme design
-Outcomes: what is the experience with choice of carer and payments for care?
Chapter 4. Monitoring and Improving the Quality of Long-term Care
-Introduction
-What do we know about quality deficits in long-term care?
-Efforts to monitor and improve quality in long-term care
-The cost of improving housing standards and quality of accommodation
Chapter 5. Paying for Long-term Care: Current Reforms and Issues for the Future
-Introduction New forms of public programmes for long-term care: Austria, Germany, Japan and Luxembourg
-Reforms to long-term care within the tax envelope: Sweden, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom