ABSTRACT
Patterns of long-term care The provision of, and reimbursement for,
long-term care differs across countries. In the
United Kingdom, older people with mental
health problems were, until relatively recently,
cared for in large psychiatric hospitals. These
institutions were often loathed by the local
community and were themselves more often
than not housed in the very same buildings as
the Victorian Poor Law Workhouses. These
institutions were the stuff of Dickens rather
than modern dementia service provision and
the wards were often of Nightingale design
with a central nursing station and beds arrayed
down either side of a long high room with
windows providing light but no view as they
were above the sight line of a seated person.
