A new paradigm for continuing care policy has emerged that is based on
assumptions about the benefits of caring partnerships and client-cent
red care delivery. Such assumptions place the interface between formal
and informal care squarely on the policy agenda. The authors describe
how existing research can contribute to the debate stimulated by the
new policy paradigm and suggest future research that is informed by th
e paradigm. They argue that theory is an important tool to make policy
agendas more explicit and they use human ecology theory to illustrate
how theory can frame the development of research to address policy. F
inally, they describe barriers to be overcome in order for policy and
research to inform one another.