A SPECIAL-DEMENTIA-UNIT (HOSTEL) - REVIEW OF THE FIRST 11 YEARS OPERATION

The aim of this review was to study the outcome of residents in a Spec ial Dementia Unit (SDU)) in the form of a hostel for 36 people during the first eleven pears of operation. The participants were one hundred and seventy one residents admitted for permanent care during that per iod The median length of stay in the hostel was 2.3 years. By the End of the period 113 residents (83 percent of those who had completed the ir lime in the hostel) had been transferred to nursing homes. The aver age survival time after admission to the hostel was 1.7 years, In orde r to accommodate those who had been transferred from the SDU about the same number of hostel places were needed in nursing homes. We conclud ed that admission to an SDU hostel for selected people with dementia i s more appropriate and less costly than direct admission to a nursing home, notwithstanding the need for subsequent nursing care for the maj ority. Adequate subsidy should be provided by the Commonwealth Governm ent so that voluntary associations are encouraged to set rep SDU hoste ls for this purpose. Nursing homes should be run in association with t hese hostels.