Objectives commonly considered in evaluation of long-term care programs are critically reviewed. An alternate formulation, in which assurance of adequate solutions to problems of daily living is the basic purpose of long-term care, is proposed. Conceptual and methodological issues in systematic description of quality of circumstances of the functionally disabled are discussed. An approach to developing standards for quality of community-based long-term care is outlined. Consideration is given to the role of organized and publicly financed long-term care in reducing care burdens experienced by family members.