"The large post-war baby boom is now turning into a grandparent boom, putting a triple stress on long-term care (LTC) provisions: increased numbers of elderly, increased survival of these elderly and increased survival of frail, disabled elderly through improved care and health care. Increasing body weights, through increasing disability and care dependence among the obese, further add to numbers of disabled elderly. The supply of labour is affected by the ageing of the EU population. Consequently, increasing emphasis has been put on the future development of long-term care needs, supply and use, and the functioning of LTC systems. The objectives of ANCIEN (Assessing Needs for Care In European Nations) are to review the LTC systems in EU member states, to assess the actual and future numbers of elderly care-dependent people in selected countries and to develop a methodology for comprehensive analysis of actual and future LTC needs and provisions across European countries, including the potential role of technology and policies on maintaining and improving quality. Performance indicators will be identified and relative performances of the different types of LTC systems assessed. Databases of EU countries are constructed, containing available data on LTC needs and use of the elderly. Participating partners from different countries cover the majority of the EU member states. State of the art demographic, epidemiologic and econometric models are used to project future needs and use of long-term care in representative member states with different LTC systems. Deliverables contain databases, dynamic models calculating long-term care needs, reports on future needs and use of LTC in representative member states, and country-specific and general reports on LTC systems and their performance."