Extract

Do recent long-term care (LTC) initiatives in Norway, the UK and Germany deviate from the traditional welfare regime path of these countries? This chapter will give a brief overview of the most significant changes in LTC policies in Norway, the UK and Germany. Following this overview we will address two important questions. First, how much responsibility will the state, civil society, families and individuals have to bear for future care needs? Second, to what degree do reform ideas represent a break with existing traditions and welfare regimes? LTC is defined as ‘the care for people needing support in many facets of living over a prolonged period of time’ (Colombo et al. 2011, p. 39). We concentrate on the elderly, ‘comprising institutional (residential) care, community care [and] informal care’ (Timonen 2005, p. 31). A major topic in the literature on LTC is the division of care between the state, the market, the family and civil society.