AT THE MARGIN OR ON AVERAGE: SOME ISSUES AND EVIDENCE IN PLANNING THE BALANCE OF CARE FOR THE AGED IN AUSTRALIA

Abstract

Aged people can be cared for in a variety of institutional and non‐institutional settings. While many arguments have been advanced for changing the balance of institutionalized and community‐based care in view of the ageing of Australia's population, the debate has generally lacked a methodological framework for rigorously comparing the alternatives under consideration. In this paper, some of the issues involved in a comparative cost analysis of various alternative forms of care for the aged are discussed, the results of an Adelaide‐based survey are summarized and possible implications for policy‐makers are suggested. 1983 Public Health Association of Australia