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Cost Information and Residential Care of the Elderly

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Martin Knapp
Affiliation:
Lecturer in Economics and Research Fellow, Personal Social Services Research Unit, University of Kent at Canterbury, England.

Abstract

A notable feature of most recent policy statements regarding care of the elderly is a reference to the costs of care. Public expenditure cuts at a time when the numbers of old people, and dependent old people, are increasing have heightened the already growing concern about the resources needed for providing care. This paper has two basic aims. The subsidiary aim is to examine this growing concern, with particular reference to the British experience since 1948 and with an especial focus on residential care services. This examination provides an historical and contextual basis for the discussion which is the principle aim of the paper. This aim is to explain how information on costs which is currently available to the policy maker and care provider can be gainfully employed in the planning of care services for the elderly. Again, attention is mainly focussed on residential care, but the approach has more general relevance. The starting point for this discussion is an examination of why costs vary – either between homes or between areas or between providers. A fairly comprehensive review of previous costs studies in this area is provided.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

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References

NOTES

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