Ethics, Law, and Aging Review, Volume 11

Book excerpt: 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 abnd 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 changeing the long-term care industry (both positively and negatively) and address this paradigm shift from the inpersonal, public psychiatric institutions of the 1960s and 1970s to the present-day assisted living environments that have been fueled by economic, social, polictical, and legal forces. Most important ly, this volume identifies obstaclesto change and enlighten 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