Introduction: Older people with dementia admitting to nursing homes are vulnerable persons and in need of extensive care and service. To develop strategies for improvements in nursing homes for people with dementia it is important to provide knowledge about factors that will have an impact on care quality. The aim of this study was to investigate comparisons and correlations between care quality and, the characteristics of the inhabitants and the nursing home facilities.

Method: Data was collected from 51 nursing homes and 115 newly admitted persons 65 years or older with dementia. Statistical analysis included comparisons and correlations between characteristics of the nursing homes, inhabitants’ condition and the rating of care quality called CLINT( Vaarama 2009).

Results: The people were in mean 85 years old and those living in nursing homes specialised in dementia were more depended in activities of daily living (ADL) and had more often defined dementia diagnosis than those living in an ordinary nursing homes. Less number of older people per ward and higher staff ratio were found in specialised nursing homes or group dwellings compared to ordinary nursing homes. Preliminary results indicated that low rate of care quality was associated with dependency in ADL and living in group dwelling.

Conclusion: The dementia diagnosis is more often made in nursing homes specialized in dementia. When improving care quality in nursing homes it is important to consider the inhabitants dependency of ADL.