How Much Care Will You Need?

Service and support needs vary from person to person and often change over time.

On average, someone who is 65 today will need some type of long-term care services and supports for three years.
Women need care longer (on average 3.7 years) than men (on average 2.2 years), mostly because women usually live longer.
While about one-third of today’s 65-year-olds may never need long-term care services and supports, 20 percent will need care for longer than 5 years.

If you need long-term care services and supports, you may receive or use one or more of the following:

Assistance with personal care or other activities from an unpaid caregiver who may be a family member or friend
Services in your home from a nurse, home health or home care aide, therapist, or homemaker
Services in the community such as adult day services
Care in any of a variety of long-term care facilities

The table below shows that, overall, more people use long-term care services at home than in facilities. Also, people use long-term care services longer at home than in facilities.

Distribution and duration of long-term care services

Type of care	Average number of years people use this type of care	Percent of people who use this type of care (%)
Any Services	3 years	69
At Home
Unpaid care only	1 year	59
Paid care	Less than 1 year	42
Any care at home	2 years	65
In Facilities
Nursing facilities	1 year	35
Assisted living	Less than 1 year	13
Any care in facilities	1 year	37