Long-term care: providing for those with disability and chronic illness

1. The focus of long-term care has widened from concentrating exclusively on the older adult to an inclusive perspective of all ages and population groups needing health care over a prolonged period of time. 2. Long-term care principles must include access to a full range of services, care coordination by professional nurses, community-based networks, and an emphasis on consumer responsibility. 3. Multiple nursing implications exist in the 21st century for care of older persons: education of students and professionals and development of continuum of care services and their evaluation and effectiveness.