International development in self-directed care.

Self-directed care is an alternative way of delivering services that seeks to empower participants by expanding their degree of choice and control in selecting services. Over the last decade, it has been widely adopted internationally in home and community-based long-term care for people with physical and cognitive disabilities and for seniors. It has been shown to improve satisfaction with services, improve quality of life, and reduce costs compared with services from an agency. A small number of pilot programs are now experimenting with self-directed care in other areas; for example in the management of serious mental illness and other chronic conditions. If positive findings from long-term care can be replicated, self-directed care can make an important contribution to improving health care quality and effectiveness. This issue brief examines a range of innovative self-directed care programs in England, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States.