Policy implications for life care environments.

1. Life care or continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) offer numerous services and financial options from which to choose. 2. Advantages of CCRCs include continuity of living, quality of life factors, close proximity of social and health care services, and formal and informal support systems. 3. Problems of CCRCs include lack of uniform standards, fiscal lack of accountability, and fragmentation. 4. Nurses must be knowledgeable about CCRCs, both from the stand-point of counseling older persons on the benefits and pitfalls of residing in a CCRC and to influence health care policy regarding these communities.