'This is an important book. Jamieson has made an admirable attempt to provide a European rather than a British perspective.'John Bond, Age & Ageing

• Home Care in Europe: Background and aims: Age Care Research Europe; Home care in the context of the ACRE framework; `Community care' or `home care'; Home Care Services in The Flanders, Belgium: Home care in Belgium; Trends in policies for older people; The service system in the Flemish region: funding and organization; Present provision in the Flemish region; Home care services in the study area of Groot-Antwerpen; Allocation of home help/cleaning help; The Home Help Service in Denmark: Home help for elderly people; The clients of home help; Decision making for home help; policy implications; The Home Help Service in England and Wales: The historical development of the service; The provision of domiciliary help today; The service in practice; Ways forward; Home Care Services in France: Historical development; Existing home-care services for elderly people; Informal support; Co-ordination; Home Care Services in The Federal Republic of Germany (West): The hierarchy of services and service systems; The history of the home care services; The role of health insurance; The role of social welfare provision; Bridging the health and social services systems: provisions for home care for frail people; The rationale behind service priorities, service hierarchies and the inclusion or exclusion of elderly people; Organization and finance of formal home care services; The extent of service provision; Allocation of home care in one federal state: a case study from Berlin (West): The structure of the study; The functional capacity and structure of informal support as criteria of need for selected domiciliary services; Service provision in Berlin; Allocation and claim mechanisms; Home Care Services in Israel: The development of home help services; Provision of services today; Issues in the delivery of adequate services; Assessment and discussion and key issues; Home Care Services in Italy (With Special Reference to Genoa): Italy, Genoa; Home Care Services in the Netherlands: The development of home help services; Present provision of home help services; The home help service and the care of the elderly; The home help service in practice; The effects of policy; Home Care from a Cross-National Perspective: Home Care Provision and Allocation: The aims of provision - the range of possibilities; The formal policy aims of home care; Home care in practice: patterns of provision and use of services; The process of service allocation; Trends in Home Care Policies: An assessment of home care measures; Past and recent trends; Factors affecting policies and their implementation; Conclusions.