An attempt to determine the impact of group living care in comparison to traditional long-term care on demented elderly patients.

Group living (GL) care for demented elderly is an established model of care in Sweden. This study analyzes the outcome of care in terms of time of GL care, survival and care load for demented patients when extended home care no longer is considered sufficient. Twenty-eight patients, mean age 83 years, suffering from dementia of Alzheimer type or vascular dementia and previously institutionalized, were relocated from long-term care wards into GL units. These patients were compared to a matched sample of patients remaining in traditional institutional (TI) care. No difference in survival was observed between the two groups after three years, nor between length of stay in GL for the different diagnostic groups. However, in patients in GL, symptoms of dementia and functional decline were less prominent than in TI. This was most marked after six months when some improvements in the GL group were registered. The more positive outcome in GL patients abates with time due to the natural course of the diseases. After three years, the two patient groups showed a similar pattern of global deterioration with a tendency toward less care load in the GL group. Offering GL care as an alternative to TI might raise the quality of life in the demented elderly for a period of 2-2.5 years.