Due to the assumption that disabled people enjoy a higher quality of life in their own homes, the balance of health and social care has shifted from institutions to care in the community. However, formulating community care policy requires a complete picture of chronic illness and its effects on the entire community. Consequently, the aim of this book is to show how knowledge of the epidemiology of disablement can help planners, service providers, patients, and voluntary organizations choose strategies for community care. A large multi-disciplinary team of social and medical scientists at St. Thomas's Hospital Medical School conducted the Lambeth studies of disablement over the last decade. Their cumulative experience in the development of social and health policy is reported using original data from a series of different studies designed to diagnose problems and to generate a social response on the part of all members of society.