A new evaluation compared the cost-effectiveness of four non-drug interventions to the usual care received by people with dementia and found that the interventions not only resulted in a better quality of life, but also saved money.

Researchers used a computer simulation model to show that the four dementia-care interventions saved between $2,800 and $13,000 in societal costs, depending on the type of intervention, and all reduced nursing home admissions and improved quality of life compared to usual care.

"Now that we can show that these effective interventions can also save money, it just makes sense to find ways to make them available to more families. These interventions can be used to help people with dementia starting today," said study author Eric Jutkowitz of Brown University's School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island

The four formal interventions studied included:

- Maximizing Independence at Home, an at-home, care coordination intervention that consists of care planning, skill-building, referrals to services and care monitoring;

- New York University Caregiver, which is implemented in an outpatient clinic and provides caregivers with six counseling sessions over four months plus lifetime ad-hoc support and access to weekly support groups.

- Alzheimer's and Dementia Care, an intervention in which a healthcare system provides people living with dementia and their caregivers a needs assessment, individual care plans and round-the-clock access to a care manager.

- Adult Day Service Plus, which augments adult day care services with staff providing face-to-face caregiver support, disease education, care management, skill-building and resource referrals.

For each intervention, the researchers evaluated societal costs, quality-adjusted life-years and cost-effectiveness.

In addition to finding that the interventions were cost-effective from a societal perspective, the researchers also found that from a health care payer perspective, the interventions involved little to no additional cost compared to usual care, while increasing patient quality of life.

Based on the study findings, the authors concluded that health insurance policies should find ways to incentivize providers and health systems to implement nonpharmacological interventions.

To read the abstract, click here