Community support for young physically handicapped people

This study examined the cost of home and hospital care for individuals who are severely physically handicapped and who may have many years to live. In addition to quantifying the overall level of these services and their costs, factors which might influence the level of service were identified and their use related to the diagnosis, duration and severity of disability, and number of unpaid carers. Costs of health and social service community support increased with severity of disability, and were mostly incurred by individuals with a Barthel score of less than 50 (more severe handicap). Costs, except for those individuals with cerebral palsy, were independent of the number of careers, and for those of school and university age the costs of special educational facilities were significant.