We are now engaged in a movement that de-emphasizes the reliance on institutional forms of long-term care for disabled persons needing ongoing daily living assistance and converges on the use of non-institutional service providers and residential settings.

In this latest edition of Ethics, Law and Aging Review, Kapp and ten expert contributors help us examine the forces and potential for changing the long-term care industry (both positively and negatively) and address this paradigm shift from the impersonal, public psychiatric institutions of the 1960s and 1970s to the present-day assisted living environments that have been fueled by economic, social, political, and legal forces.

Most importantly, this volume identifies obstacles to change and enlightens service providers, advocates, and key policy makers to the pitfalls that can largely interfere with positive outcomes as a result of long-term care deinstitutionalization.

Topics explored include:

Community-based alternatives for older adults with serious mental illness

Failing consumer-directed alternatives to nursing homes

Ethics of Medicare privatization