Assessing technologies in dementia care: A conceptual health-economic model

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Health Economics
• Medical Technology

Background:

• Assistive devices and social robots offer potential benefits for individuals with dementia and their caregivers.
• The long-term cost-effectiveness of these technologies is not well-established.
• Current health-economic models are insufficient for capturing relevant outcomes in dementia care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conceptualize a health-economic model for assessing the lifetime impact of care technologies in dementia.
• To evaluate the effect of these technologies on quality of life and care utilization.

Main Methods:

• A literature review and multidisciplinary expert input were used to summarize the impact pathway of three care technologies.
• A cohort-based Markov state-transition model was conceptualized.
• The model simulates dementia severity progression, care setting transitions, and mortality.

Main Results:

• The model incorporates surrogate outcomes like functional status and caregiver burden to estimate intervention effects.
• The model simulates transitions between dementia severity states (mild, moderate, severe).
• The model tracks transitions between care settings (no formal care, home care, nursing home) and mortality.

Conclusions:

• The developed model provides a framework for early health technology assessment in dementia care.
• It supports the extrapolation of intervention effects beyond limited clinical trial data.
• Future research should focus on operationalizing and applying this model to determine the value of dementia care technologies.