本論文研究之內容共分為五章。第一章為「緒論」，係對本文之研究動機與研究目的、研究方法、研究範圍作介紹，說明本文之思想起源以及問題意識，針對本論文之研究目的加以說明，接著再介紹本文之研究方法，並說明研究範圍與論文之架構。
第二章「國家生存照顧義務與社會基本權保障」，此章中將先對社會法治國原則之發展及其內涵加以介紹，說明國家任務係如何發展演變至必須對人民負有生存照顧義務，並說明社會基本權之發生及其內涵，進而介紹社會基本權於我國憲法中如何實踐，以及應如何保障人民之社會基本權，本文將在此章中建構長期照護法制度背後之憲法基本權基礎。
第三章為「社會保險與長期照護制度」，本章將討論之主要內容有三。首先從社會保險之意義切入，再介紹社會保險制度之分類。繼而討論長期照護制度與健康保險制度之關係，比較兩者之間相異與相同之處，以及探討兩者間之關係。最後則為外國立法例之比較，本文將以德國、日本之長期照護制度做為法制度比較之對象，而討論之範圍方面，此一部分以及第四章將較著重於法制度之適用對象、財務制度、幾付範圍、幾付方式與給付項目之部分。
第四章係「我國之長期照護保險制度」。我國現行之長期照護制度並無一統一之法律規定，長期照護之相關法規散見於老人福利法、身心障礙者權益保障法及精神衛生法或其他法規之中，此些法規制定之方針以及內容均各有不同，整體上亦均有可改善之空間，此外，目前我國正在推行中之長期照護十年計畫亦為目前長期照護制度推行進程中之一大重點。因此，本章中將先對於我國現行之長期照護制度作介紹，再分析長期照護十年計畫之制度內容，再接著概述尚處於草案階段之長期照護保險法草案以及長期照護服務法草案，最後於文末則將提出我國長期照護制度現狀之缺失。
第五章為「結論」，將綜合各章議題，並對此論文作出總結及建議。
This thesis includes five chapters. Chapter I, Introduction, is going to presents the motivation, purposes, the scope and the structure of the study.
Chapter II — State Obligation of Life Care and Fundamental Social Rights. Section 1 is about the historical development and contents of “Soziale Rechtsstaat”. This section clarifies that how the State's obligation evolved from the national wealth accumulation into the people’s life care. Section 2 is about fundamental social right in Taiwan’s Constitution. This section will start at the emergence and the contents of fundamental social rights, then how it practice in constitution in Taiwan. The aim of this chapter is to explain why the government has the constitutional obligations to build the long-term care legal system.
Chapter III — Social Insurance and Long-Term Care Legal System. The first section is about the meaning and the types of social insurance. Section 2 is the comparison between the long-term care legal system and the national health insurance and it will demonstrate the differences, the similarities, and the relevance between these two systems. Last but not least, the section 3 is the introduction of the long-term care legal system in Germany and Japan.This part is about the comparative of applicable, the finance, the scope of payment, the form of payment, and covered services between each different long-term care legal system in Germany and Japan.
Chapter IV — Long-Term Care Social Insurance in Taiwan. Due to that the rules of long-term care legal system in Taiwan are scattered in different laws (such as Senior Citizens Welfare Act and People with Disabilities Rights Protection Act), and also a “Taiwan Long-Term Care 10-year Plan” since 2007 that has a great influence to Taiwan’s long-term care system. So that in this chapter, the first section will summarize those rules about long-term care in different laws, then introduce the “Taiwan Long-Term Care 10-year Plan”. Last section will point out the shortcomings and problems in this currently system.
Chapter V — Conclusion. This is the last chapter of this thesis. This chapter will summary all topics and conclusions in this thesis, and propose the following suggestion:
1. Legalization of long-term care system.
2. Integration and promotion of information.
3. Enhance the protection of caregivers' rights.
4. Bridging the urban–rural gap.
5. Legalization of foreign nursing and care workers.
