This collection of essays is about dependent older people and their families, that is, older people who need help in their daily life: from the frail elderly who need mainly minor assistance in performing housework or for transportation, to severely disabled older people, bed-ridden or senile. The studies reported in this book offer a wide and informed overview of issues connected with caring for frail and disabled older people, whether carried out by family caregivers, paid helpers or formal caregivers. That the number of older people world-wide is increasing can certainly be considered a human achievement, but at the same time it generates a series of problems that must be faced.