DEMENTIA, DISABILITY AND CONTACT WITH FORMAL SERVICES - A COMPARISON OF DEMENTIA SUFFERERS AND NON-SUFFERERS IN RURAL AND URBAN SETTINGS

This paper is based on data from studies conducted in the City of Live rpool and in a rural area of North Wales, relating to people aged 75 y ears and over living in the community. It compares those identified in these studies as suffering from cognitive brain disorders with other older people identified as being cognitively unimpaired and looks at l evels of competence with activities of daily living and the subsequent levels of contact with a range of health and social services personne l and other community workers. It shows that although levels of contac t with formal services are generally higher for people with dementia t han for non-sufferers, most of these differences are below the level o f statistical significance. It was found that levels of contact for pe ople receiving most services are low, especially for specialist mental health services and social work. The implications for community care are discussed, it is suggested that expansion of domiciliary care serv ices for people with dementia and for their carers would demand more r esources than are currently being made available but that it would be better value for money on a case by case basis.