Users of day-treatment had a different need for care than users of day-care. The behaviour measured by the GIP was different on the cognitive and social scales: 100 users of day-treatment showed more disturbed behaviour than 63 users of day-care. Geronte also showed that they were in need of more help than users of day-care: at the start and also after twelve months with respect to their mental, physical and social functions as well as in home keeping. Users who left the facility within one year showed a lower level of selfcontainment at the start compared with users still visiting the facility after one year. The need profile of users leaving day-care resembled that of the users that started day-treatment. Fifteen percent of users who left day-care directly started day-treatment.