A holistic approach to the provision of social care of the elderly can best meet their future needs for assistance. In this paper, the concept of social care is delineated, and a systemwide model presented. This model emphasizes the interrelatedness of the component parts--informal, mediating, and formal--and the need for well-articulated linkages among them. Trends affecting future demand for care, and the ability of family and community to respond, are discussed. Although the family will retain an important role, some of its functions may shift to formal care in the decades ahead. Within the proposed framework, a research and policy agenda is suggested.