The offer differs from other home care services, where residents receive services in private homes or municipally managed housing without associated staff. The report is based on figures from Statistics Norway's Home Service Survey from 2021, which identified 2 273 enterprises reported as co-located dwellings or community dwellings with an associated staff base. These are referred to as residential bases in the report, and were associated with a total of nearly 30,000 dwellings.

The survey examined, among other things, the target groups of the residential bases. The target group of people with intellectual disabilities was the most comprehensive, measured in the numbers of residential bases, dwellings, and municipalities with such an offer. The remaining target groups were usually found in residential bases aimed at more than one target group. Three main groupings of residential bases with a maximum of two target groups were identified, which covered a total of 92 per cent of the residential bases and 88 per cent of the dwellings. These are presented the table.

Residential bases and dwellings with a maximum of two target groups, distributed by the main target groupings. 2020. N=1 778

Residential bases Dwellings
Combination og target groups Amount Percentage Amount Percentag
Dementia and/or mobility impairments (67+) 193 10.9 4 717 23.9
Intellectual disability etc. (and/or second target group) 1 192 67.0 9 930 50.2
Mental disorders and/or substance abuse problems 256 14.4 2 751 13.9
Other target groups 137 7.7 2 365 12.0
Sum 1 778 100.0 19 763 100.0

Source: Statistics Norway, hjemmetjenestekartlegging 2021

In residential bases with up to two target groups, two thirds are aimed at people with intellectual disabilities. The target group of the elderly, which amounts to almost 5,000 housing units, should be seen in relation to the approximately 40,000 nursing home places that are largely aimed at the same target group. This indicates that the home service's housing offer for the elderly is currently relatively small compared to the institutional care service.

The type of target group was of great importance for the number of dwellings connected to the residential bases. The residential bases for the elderly generally had a larger capacity than the residential bases aimed at the other target groups, with an average of 27 dwellings per residential base. In comparison, the total average was 13 dwellings per residential base, and 8 dwellings per residential base in the target group for residential bases with only people with intellectual disabilities.

Municipality size was also a factor that played a role in the distribution of target groups and the size of the residential bases. The large municipalities had a more specialized offer for their residential bases, both in terms of having fewer target groups per residential base, and a lesser extent of co-location of services. Dwellings for people with intellectual disabilities had a greater amount of the specialized offer in the smaller the municipalities. Dwellings for people with mental disorders and substance abuse problems had a greater amout in the larger municipalites. There was no equivalent trend in the dwellings for the elderly.