Where Long-Term Care Is Being Delivered

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Where Long-Term Care Is Being Delivered

Long-term care is not healthcare

Because LTC is distinct from healthcare, it does not always require a medical setting. Care can be given in the home, out in the community, or in a residential facility. When money is not the predominant concern, it is the individual’s own circumstances and preferences that should dictate where and how the care will be delivered.

Things To Know

LTC does not always require a medical setting
Long-term care is currently being delivered in a variety of settings.

Until recently, the nursing home occupied center stage as our aging society turned its attention to the issue of LTC. This was never because anyone liked the idea, but because there weren’t many alternatives.

The spectrum of long-term care

Today, the traditional nursing home has been moved to the periphery of a wide assortment of much-preferred LTC services the public has demanded. Together these services form a graduated progression in the level of care available as we make our way through the aging process. It is a continuum.

On one end is personal (non-medical) care in the home using family or aides, when only minimal or occasional assistance is sufficient. On the other end is the nursing home, which can provide skilled care and a level of supervision that cannot be rendered in the home or on an outpatient basis. The broad middle of the continuum is itself a range of home healthcare options, resources in the community, and residential arrangements outside the nursing home.