COMMUNITY CARE FOR DEMENTED AND NONDEMENTED ELDERLY PEOPLE - A COMPARISON STUDY OF FINANCIAL BURDEN, SERVICE USE, AND UNMET NEEDS IN FAMILYSUPPORTERS

Objective-To measure and compare perceived financial burden, use of se rvices, and perceived unmet service needs of supporters of demented an d non-demented elderly people. Design-Comparison study of age and sex matched demented and non-demented elderly people and their supporters. Setting-25 primary health care teams in Dundee. Subjects-114 communit y resident elderly (age over 65) people with dementia, 114 age and sex matched comparators, and the main informal supporter of each elderly person. Main outcome measures-Carers' perceptions of financial impact of looking after an old person, service use (from a list of locally av ailable services), unmet service needs, and needs for three types of g eneric service (help with supervision, housework, or personal care). R esults-Financial impact was low, except for extra household expense in the dementia group. There was significantly greater use of mainstream domiciliary and day care services in the dementia group. Dementia was nevertheless associated with a high level of unmet need, mainly for m ore mainstream support and help with supervision of the elderly person . Conclusion-Supervisory care for demented elderly people should be fu rther developed within an expanded domiciliary service to meet support ers needs.