ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the different role families play, due to the fact that public provision is more or less feasible, generous and seamless in some single countries compared to other countries. It also deals with regional variation in long-term care for elderly (LTC) provision. The kind and amount of LTC services and benefits publicly given to dependent older people might look different at regional and local levels within the investigated countries, according to the territorial frame of work for long-term care provision. Service provision is always based on an agreement between the public authority, the care-providing institution or caregiver and the care recipient. The role and importance of cash benefits depend very much on general long-term care schemes and packages, for instance on the public long-term care service available through cash benefits. Thus, regional variation in public long-term care provision is very likely to be due to different financial resources between regions and/or municipalities within a country.
