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Long-Term Care and Aging: Evolving Needs, Challenges, and Solutions

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Care Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 1363

Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Interests: aging services; caregiving; health policy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

An increasing number of older adults require long-term care, particularly as people live longer lives than ever before. Long-term care can include home- and community-based services or residential care for individuals who need assistance with self-care because of a physical, cognitive, or mental disability/condition. However, needs and services are not the same across populations, locations, and health conditions. Research and policy reform in long-term care has seen renewed interest, particularly after a global pandemic exposed many fissures in long-term care systems throughout the world. Additionally, while some countries are expanding national funding for long-term care, other countries are decreasing public financing for long-term care—creating very different long-term care funding and care options for older adults, families, providers, and communities. In this Special Issue, we welcome papers that address theoretical, conceptual, and empirical research about long-term care, particularly new research regarding the needs, challenges, and potential solutions to these challenges. We also invite brief reports and commentaries and will consider manuscripts from diverse disciplines with the goal of presenting a Special Issue that addresses emerging and evolving issues in long-term care from a variety of disciplinary and methodological perspectives.

Dr. Angela K. Perone
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • long-term care
  • aging
  • nursing homes
  • care homes
  • assisted living
  • home- and community-based services
  • dementia care
  • caregiving
  • caregivers
  • care support
  • staffing
  • policy
  • financing
  • affordability
  • quality of life
  • quality of care
  • social isolation
  • disparities
  • interventions

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

12 pages, 1979 KB  
Article
“Shelter-in-Place” Policies and Changes in Caregiving for Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic
by Lei Chen and Joanne Spetz
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2026, 23(7), 825; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23070825 - 23 Jun 2026
Viewed by 700
Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, family support for older adults living with disabilities was disrupted due to “Shelter-in-Place (SIP)” orders. This study examined the impact of SIP policies on caregiving changes for people with disabilities who were not married. We used the National Health [...] Read more.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, family support for older adults living with disabilities was disrupted due to “Shelter-in-Place (SIP)” orders. This study examined the impact of SIP policies on caregiving changes for people with disabilities who were not married. We used the National Health and Aging Trends Survey (NHATS) round 10 data and previously published data regarding SIP policies. The study sample included NHATS community-dwelling respondents who needed assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs) or instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) and who were not married (n = 512). More than half of people (55.1%) reported no change in receiving help, approximately one-third (36.7%) reported receiving less help, and 8.2% reported receiving more help during COVID-19 than before. Compared with people who lived in areas that had fewer than 30%, people living in areas with 30–59% and with 60% or more of SIP days had 12 percentage points lower probability of reporting they received more help during COVID-19 (p = 0.02 for 30–59% and p = 0.03 for ≥60%). It is crucial to address caregiving needs during public health emergencies and to examine how policy disruptions impact support for individuals reliant on family assistance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Long-Term Care and Aging: Evolving Needs, Challenges, and Solutions)
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