Caring for People with Learning Difficulties in Scotland: Comparative Costs

This paper compares the costs of alternative forms of residential care for people with a learning difficulty in Scotland. The results suggest that whilst it costs less to care for adults with a severe and profound learning difficulty in hospital, it is cheaper to care for adults with a moderate or mild learning difficulty in the community. Evidence of economies of scale was found in providing care for these latter two groups in the community. Foster care placements were the cheapest form of care for children with a severe and profound learning difficulty. Other research has shown that community based small homes provide a superior quality of care. 1994 Blackwell Publishing Ltd