This article shows some results of a comparative study, conducted in 1980, of sheltered homes financed by the Department of Health and the Department of Welfare. The following aspects were studied:

• lenght of stay and discharge policy;
• admission policy;
• patient characteristics;
• staff

The main conclusions of this study is that there is a substantial overlap in functions between these two mental health services. The differences between the institutions in each system with regard to criteria for admission, patient characteristics and mobility of the residents were more striking than the overall diversity between the two systems.