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.


Table of Contents


Front Matter
Executive Summary
Introduction
Profile of Long-Term Care
State of Quality of Long-Term Care
Information Systems for Monitoring Quality
Improving Quality Through External Oversight
Strengthening the Caregiving Work Force
Building Organizational Capacity
Reimbursing to Improve Quality of Care
Closing Remarks
References
Appendix A: Committee Meetings and Presenters of Testimony
Appendix B: Separate Dissenting Opinions
Acronyms
Biographical Sketches of Committee Members
Index