Experiences of empathy and burnout were compared among staff caring for demented patients, at a collective living unit (n = 10) and a nursing home (n = 10) in the middle of Sweden. In both milieus, the staff showed great confidence in their own caring ability and disclosed a deep care and concern for their patients. All staff had the requisite attributes of empathy, and none had burnout scores indicating risk of burnout. The staff of the collective living unit gave exclusively positive descriptions of their patients, but expressed an emotional exhaustion and a feeling of being overutilized. The staff of the nursing home gave positive and negative descriptions of their patients, and experienced physical exhaustion and a feeling of being only partly utilized. The study indicates that exhaustion in staff may be related both to overwhelming experiences connected with being close to demented patients, and to feelings of guilt for not being closely related to their patients.

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Environmental influences on demented patients in a collective living (CL group, n = 5) and a nursing home (NH group, n = 5) were studied during 22 months. Intellectual functions rated by the GBS scale indicated a smaller deterioration in the CL group (p < 0.05). A quotient was constructed of EEG alpha/delta activities, which ratio had increased in the CL group, indicating a reduction of dementia-induced changes, and was reduced in the NH group (p < 0.05). The CL group showed signs of better social abilities, more alertness, reduced signs of depression, but caused more 'disturbances'. It seemed, however, as if these patients' behaviour were better accepted by the staff.