SESSION ABSTRACT-International Trends in Long Term Care Reform

Aging is a global phenomenon. Whether in the so-called "developed" or "developing" world, countries are experiencing the societal consequences of an ever increasing elderly population. For demographic, economic, and quality reasons, many nations have begun to address the challenge of how to pay for and organise/deliver services to a growing number of older persons in need of Long Term Care(LTC). Most countries have "rural" populations, a situation that must be taken into account in any reform strategy where equity is a goal. As a result, LTC reform, efforts to re-focus, re-balance, and/or refinance, are attracting serious attention world-wide. Key questions to be addressed revolve around the relationships between LTC system characteristics, the nature of reform strategies being pursued, and the outcomes achieved and documented. Emphasis will be placed on lessons learned from several different countries--Japan(Etsuji Okamoto, MD, MPH)(# 174589), China(Hongdao Meng, PhD, MPH)(#176938), the USA/State of Oregon(Kathy Wilson)(#175698), and the UK and the Netherlands(Dennis Kodner, PhD)(#175552). The Moderator is Gerald M. Eggert, PHD. The Discussant is Joan F. Van Nostrand, DPA.