Premium
Supporting community‐dwelling older people with cognitive impairment to stay at home: A modelled cost analysis
Author(s) -
Dyer Suzanne M.,
Standfield Lachlan B.,
Fairhall Nicola,
Cameron Ian D.,
Gresham Meredith,
Brodaty Henry,
Crotty Maria
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/ajag.12818
Subject(s) - dementia , gerontology , psychological intervention , cohort , welfare , social welfare , cognitive impairment , observational study , intervention (counseling) , medicine , older people , cognition , psychology , psychiatry , economics , disease , pathology , political science , law , market economy
Objective To model the potential financial implications of Australian programs supporting cognitively impaired community‐dwelling older people. Methods Markov cohort models of (a) an observational study of a residential dyadic training program for carers and people with dementia (GTSAH) and (b) a frailty intervention (FIT) in a cognitively impaired subgroup. Direct health and social welfare costs accrued over 5 years (2018 $AUD prices) were captured. GTSAH costs $3755, FIT costs $1834, and permanent residential aged care (P‐RAC) costs $237 per day. Results Modelling predicted costs break even in approximately 5 months for GTSAH and 7 months for FIT, after which these interventions saved funds. The primary driver of savings was the P‐RAC cost (discounted at 5%/annum), at $121 030 for GTSAH vs $231 193 for standard care; and $47 857 with FIT vs $111 359 for standard care. Conclusions Programs supporting cognitively impaired community‐dwelling older people could be financially beneficial; further evaluation and implementation would be a worthwhile investment.