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Cognitive disability and direct care costs for elderly people

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2018

Shane Kavanagh  and
Martin Knapp
Shane Kavanagh
Affiliation:
London School of Economics, London
Martin Knapp*
Affiliation:
London School of Economics, London
*
Professor Martin Knapp, Personal Social Services Research Unit, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE. e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Background

Population ageing and the high costs of care support for elderly people have concentrated attention on economic issues. Is there an association between costs and cognitive disability?

Aims

To compare service utilisation and direct costs for elderly people with different degrees of cognitive disability, and between people living in households and in communal establishments.

Method

Secondary analysis of Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS) Disability Surveys data compared service utilisation and costs for 8736 elderly people with cognitive disability. Cost estimates were constructed for all health and social care services.

Results

A much greater proportion of people at higher levels of cognitive disability lived in communal establishments, where their (direct) costs were much higher than when supported in households. Service utilisation patterns and costs varied with cognitive disability.

Conclusions

It is important to look at the full range of living arrangements and support services when examining costs. The potential cost implications of pharmacotherapies, other treatments or new care arrangements cannot be appreciated without such a broad perspective.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 174 , Issue 6 , June 1999 , pp. 539 - 546
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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Footnotes

Declaration of interest

Funded by Janssen-Cilag and the Department of Health (London).

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