Family care as collaboration: effectiveness of a multicomponent support program for elderly couples with dementia....

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Dementia care presents significant challenges for community-dwelling individuals and their caregivers.
• Prolonging community care and managing healthcare service utilization are critical for dementia patient well-being and healthcare system sustainability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a 2-year multicomponent intervention program in extending community care for individuals with dementia.
• To analyze the intervention's impact on the utilization and costs of social and healthcare services.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 125 community-dwelling couples where one spouse cared for the other with dementia.
• The intervention group received a multicomponent program including a family care coordinator, geriatrician, support groups, and individualized services.
• Outcomes measured included time to institutionalization, service usage, and service expenditures.

Main Results:

• At 1.6 years, significantly fewer individuals in the intervention group required long-term institutional care compared to the control group (11.1% vs 25.8%, P=.03).
• The intervention led to a statistically significant reduction in community service use and expenditures, with a benefit of -7,985 Euro (P=.03).
• At the 2-year mark, the difference in institutionalization rates was not statistically significant, and intervention costs negated overall cost savings.

Conclusions:

• The multicomponent intervention did not significantly prolong community care by preventing institutionalization at the 2-year follow-up.
• Individualized services, developed in collaboration with families, show potential for reducing the use and costs of municipal services for dementia care.
• Further research is needed to optimize interventions for sustained community living and cost-effectiveness in dementia care.