Residential care for the long term mentally ill in Canterbury: options, costs and funding sources.
OBJECTIVE
To obtain estimates of the costs of the main options of care for the long term mentally ill and to compare different approaches to costing.


METHODS
Resources used by samples of residents in extended hospital care (EC, n = 43), community staffed houses (SH, n = 30), boarding houses (BH, n = 43) and group homes (GH, n = 100) were identified and costed using both the expenditure and total resource concepts of cost estimation.


RESULTS
Using the expenditure concept of cost SH was the most expensive at $773 per person per week, compared to $700 for EC, $189 for BH and $155 for GH. Using the resource cost approach, valuing all resources used, SH and EC were similar at $790, compared to $184 and $169 for BH and GH care. Nursing was the most costly input with striking differences between nursing costs in the four modes of care.


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate a gap in the spectrum of residential care options, between high and low cost care. Future funding arrangements will require improved linkage between needs assessment and resource provision.
Green
T
T
Health Research Services, Christchurch.
Hornblow
A
A
Sheerin
I
I
Marshall
T
T
Robertson
N
N
D002202:Capital Financing; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000191:economics; D017047:Cost Sharing; D005260:Female; D016352:Group Homes; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000191:economics*; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000191:economics* / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand; D012112:Residential Facilities / Q000191:economics*