Group living for elderly patients with dementia--a cost analysis

The average labour cost of group living for elderly people suffering from senile dementia amounted to just over SEK 230,000 per patient and year, or SEK 639 per patient and day (24h), in 1992 prices. These figures emerge from our study of 106 group-living units in 46 municipalities in southern Sweden. The average staff density, that is the number of full-time employees on a yearly basis, was 1.06 per patient. The study also shows that the labour cost per patient decreases when the number of patients in a unit increases. Units that form part of other types of residence for the elderly have lower labour costs than detached group-living units (everything else being equal). If individual flats or apartments are large (at least two rooms), a higher staff density was observed. A high degree of functional disability in the individual entails higher staff density and consequently higher labour costs as well. However, in comparison with other forms of caring for the elderly, such disabilities have a less marked effect on labour costs. Everything else being equal, comparatively young residents entail higher labour costs than older ones. The average cost per patient in group-living units amounted to SEK 986 per day. This cost includes the cost of care (labour cost adjusted for flexible salary increments), as well as of capital, operation and maintenance, and food (raw materials). The cost of care amounts to approx. 80% of the estimated cost per patient. The average cost per patient is higher in group-living units than in old people's homes; but as regards dementia sufferers with some degree of functional disability, the cost of care is probably about the same in both types of accommodation.