Economic aspects of care of the elderly.

The health care costs in the industrialized countries have increased continuously parallel to the aging of the population. There is however only a minor part of the cost increase that can be attributed to the changing age structure. Sweden, which at least till the year 2000 will have the world's oldest population, spends 30 billion Swedish Crowns (approx. 4 billion US $) on medical care and social services for the aged (65 years or older), which amounts to 5% of the GNP. Long-term estimates (year 2000) of the future age-standardized costs show that in Sweden health care and social services resources for the aged must increase at an average annual rate of 1.3% in order to maintain the same standard as in the beginning of the 1980s. The experience from studies in the municipalities of Sundsvall and Vetlanda in Sweden have demonstrated that many transfers to institutions have been 'unnecessary' i.e. could have been avoided through increased medical care and support efforts in the homes of the elderly. Results from the above municipalities show the potential savings which might be realized in the long run if care of the elderly will be more concentrated on home care rather than on institutional care. If Sundsvall and Vetlanda were representative of Sweden as a whole, the annual costs of care for the elderly could be decreased by between 1 and 2 billion Skr, which corresponds to 5-10% of the total costs.