title: Long-term care planning as a cultural system.
abstract: This paper treats long-term care planning from a cultural perspective, that is, as a cultural system in which components of long-term care interlock culturally and therefore meaningfully. In the introduction and background sections, we provide a context in which long-term care planning may be viewed, based on the finding that relatively few people take advantage of long-term care planning and insurance; we also discuss some earlier work on long-term care from a psychological perspective that emphasizes themes of imagination and self-efficacy. We then examine long-term care from a cultural perspective by identifying and explicating five broad themes that help us better understand the meaning of long-term care planning to Americans. Finally, we use these themes to suggest some important social policy correlates.
authors.affiliation: Sociology and Anthropology Department, University of Maryland Baltimore County, MD 21250, USA. ananton@umbc.edu
authors.forename: Patricia M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: San Antonio
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Rubinstein
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007353:Insurance, Long-Term Care / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland; D008875:Middle Aged; D011640:Public Policy; D014481:United States