A Longitudinal Study of Functional Unmet Need Among People with Dementia.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the changes of unmet need in dementia may enable effective targeting of help and allow people to stay in their homes longer. OBJECTIVE: We investigated changes in unmet need and functioning over a 4-year period and the role of socio-demographic factors in these changes among people with dementia. METHODS: 234 community-dwelling people with dementia at baseline were studied in three consecutive waves (four years) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Unmet needs (self/informant-reported limitations for which no help was received) and functional limitations (self/informant-reported difficulties in activities/instrumental activities of daily living and mobility) were modelled with latent growth curves. Sex, age, partnership, and socioeconomic status at baseline were used as predictors. Admission to a care home was an additional outcome. RESULTS: Unmet needs increased over time, especially among those who initially had more functional limitations. Unmet needs contributed to faster decline in functional capability, except among those with many limitations initially. The major driver of increased unmet needs was not having a partner (direct effect). Age, sex, and wealth contributed indirectly via the initial level of functional limitations and/or unmet need. Those with several functional limitations but few unmet needs were most likely to move to a care home. CONCLUSION: Unmet need increases over time in those with dementia with mitigating effects of having a partner and initial levels of functioning. Meeting needs at early stages of dementia, especially for those living alone and when functional limitations are low may help slow functional decline.

Major Cost Drivers in Assessing the Economic Burden of Alzheimer's Disease: A Structured, Rapid Review.

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's Disease is the most common cause of dementia, affecting memory, thinking and behavior. Symptoms eventually grow severe enough to interfere with daily tasks. AD is predicted to increase healthcare spending and costs associated with formal and informal caregiving. The aim of this study was to identify and quantify the contribution of the different cost components associated with AD. METHODS: A structured literature review was conducted to identify studies reporting the economic burden of Alzheimer`s Disease beyond the healthcare setting. The search was conducted in Medline, Embase and EconLit and limited to studies published in the last 10 years. For each identified cost component, frequency weighted mean costs were calculated across countries to estimate the percentage contribution of each component by care setting and disease severity. Results obtained by each costing approach were also compared. RESULTS: For community-dwelling adults, the percentage of healthcare, social care and indirect costs to total costs were 13.9%, 17.4% and 68.7%, respectively. The percentage of costs varied by disease severity with 26.0% and 10.4% of costs spent on healthcare for mild and severe disease, respectively. The proportion of total spending on indirect costs changed from 60.7% to 72.5% as disease progressed. For those in residential care, the contribution of each cost component was similar between moderate and severe disease. Social care accounted on average for 85.9% of total costs. CONCLUSION: The contribution of healthcare costs to the overall burden was not negligible; but was generally exceeded by social and informal care costs.

Is Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment Admission Avoidance Hospital at Home an Alternative to Hospital Admission for Older Persons? : A Randomized Trial.

BACKGROUND: Delivering hospital-level care with comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) in the home is one approach to deal with the increased demand for bed-based hospital care, but clinical effectiveness is uncertain. OBJECTIVE: To assess the clinical effectiveness of admission avoidance hospital at home (HAH) with CGA for older persons. DESIGN: Multisite randomized trial. (ISRCTN registry number: ISRCTN60477865). SETTING: 9 hospital and community sites in the United Kingdom. PATIENTS: 1055 older persons who were medically unwell, were physiologically stable, and were referred for a hospital admission. INTERVENTION: Admission avoidance HAH with CGA versus hospital admission with CGA when available using 2:1 randomization. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome of living at home was measured at 6 months. Secondary outcomes were new admission to long-term residential care, death, health status, delirium, and patient satisfaction. RESULTS: Participants had a mean age of 83.3 years (SD, 7.0). At 6-month follow-up, 528 of 672 (78.6%) participants in the CGA HAH group versus 247 of 328 (75.3%) participants in the hospital group were living at home (relative risk [RR], 1.05 [95% CI, 0.95 to 1.15]; P = 0.36); 114 of 673 (16.9%) versus 58 of 328 (17.7%) had died (RR, 0.98 [CI, 0.65 to 1.47]; P = 0.92); and 37 of 646 (5.7%) versus 27 of 311 (8.7%) were in long-term residential care (RR, 0.58 [CI, 0.45 to 0.76]; P < 0.001). LIMITATION: The findings are most applicable to older persons referred from a hospital short-stay acute medical assessment unit; episodes of delirium may have been undetected. CONCLUSION: Admission avoidance HAH with CGA led to similar outcomes as hospital admission in the proportion of older persons living at home as well as a decrease in admissions to long-term residential care at 6 months. This type of service can provide an alternative to hospitalization for selected older persons. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: The National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research Programme (12/209/66).

The Influence of Intrinsic Motivation on Pay Satisfaction Among Caregivers in Residential Home for the Elderly in China: The Mediating Role of Job Burnout.

BACKGROUND: According to the theory of compensating differentials, caregivers with high levels of intrinsic motivation should exhibit a higher-than-average satisfaction with their pay. Whereas studies conducted in Western countries have provided empirical evidence for the theory of compensating differentials in various care settings, few studies have been conducted in China that focus on caregivers employed in residential homes for the elderly (RHE). The sociodemographic characteristics of caregivers in China different significantly from their counterparts in Western countries. PURPOSE: This study was developed to analyze the mediating role of job burnout to assess the influence of intrinsic motivation on pay satisfaction among caregivers in RHE. METHODS: Structural equation modeling was used to examine the influences of intrinsic motivation on pay satisfaction in a sample of 1,212 caregivers employed in RHE in China by analyzing the mediating role of job burnout. RESULTS: Intrinsic motivation was found to relate positively to pay satisfaction (ß = .11, p < .05). Negative relationships were identified between intrinsic motivation and job burnout (ß = -.46, p < .01) and between job burnout and pay satisfaction (ß = -.13, p < .01). Job burnout was found to have a significant mediating effect on the relationship between intrinsic motivation and pay satisfaction (ß = .06, p < .01). CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: A significant relationship was found between intrinsic motivation and pay satisfaction, with job burnout playing a mediating role in caregivers employed in RHE in China. This research has profound implications for nursing education, practice, and research. First, greater efforts should be focused on instilling nursing values in nursing students to foster intrinsic motivation. Second, nonpecuniary rewards may be offered to caregivers to acknowledge the values of care work and strengthen intrinsic motivation. Third, a supportive working climate should be fostered to reduce job burnout. Fourth, caregivers should be informed of their rights to decent pay and their right to bargain collectively through unions. Fifth, appropriate public policies should be implemented to provide pay for caregivers at levels that recognize and appreciate their intrinsic motivation.

LIMPRINT in Australia.

Background and Study Objective: Australia was one of nine participating countries in the epidemiology Phase II Lymphoedema Impact and Prevalence - International (LIMPRINT) project to determine the number of people with chronic edema (CO) in local health services. Methods and Results: Data collection occurred through questionnaire-based interviews and clinical assessment with provided LIMPRINT tools. Four different types of services across three states in Australia participated. A total of 222 adults participated with an age range from 22 to 102 years, and 60% were female. Site 1 included three residential care facilities (54% of participants had swelling), site 2 was community-delivered aged care services (24% of participants had swelling), site 3 was a hospital setting (facility-based prevalence study; 28% of participants had swelling), and site 4 was a wound treatment center (specific patient population; 100% of participants had swelling). Of those with CO or secondary lymphedema, 93% were not related to cancer, the lower limbs were affected in 51% of cases, and 18% of participants with swelling reported one or more episodes of cellulitis in the previous year. Wounds were identified in 47% (n = 105) of all participants with more than half of those with wounds coming from the dedicated wound clinic. Leg/foot ulcer was the most common type of wound (65%, n = 68). Conclusions: Distances between services, lack of specialized services, and various state funding models contribute to inequities in CO treatment. Understanding the high number of noncancer-related CO presentations will assist health services to provide timely effective care and improve referral pathways.

Clinical and cost-effectiveness of the Managing Agitation and Raising Quality of Life (MARQUE) intervention for agitation in people with dementia in care homes: a single-blind, cluster-randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Many people with dementia living in care homes have distressing and costly agitation symptoms. Interventions should be efficacious, scalable, and feasible. METHODS: We did a parallel-group, cluster-randomised controlled trial in 20 care homes across England. Care homes were eligible if they had 17 residents or more with dementia, agreed to mandatory training for all eligible staff and the implementation of plans, and more than 60% of eligible staff agreed to participate. Staff were eligible if they worked during the day providing face-to-face care for residents with dementia. Residents were eligible if they had a known dementia diagnosis or scored positive on screening with the Noticeable Problems Checklist. A statistician independent of the study randomised care homes (1:1) to the Managing Agitation and Raising Quality of Life (MARQUE) intervention or treatment as usual (TAU) using computer-generated randomisation in blocks of two, stratified by type of home (residential or nursing). Care home staff were not masked to the intervention but were asked not to inform assessors. Residents with dementia, family carers, outcome assessors, statisticians, and health economists were masked to allocation until the data were analysed. MARQUE is an evidence-based manualised intervention, delivered by supervised graduate psychologists to staff in six interactive sessions. The primary outcome was agitation score at 8 months, measured using the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI). Analysis of the primary outcome was done in the modified intention-to-treat population, which included all randomly assigned residents for whom CMAI data was available at 8 months. Mortality was assessed in all randomly assigned residents. This study is registered with the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN96745365. FINDINGS: Between June 14, 2016, and July 4, 2017, we randomised ten care homes (189 residents) to the MARQUE intervention and ten care homes (215 residents) to TAU. At 8 months, primary outcome data were available for 155 residents in the MARQUE group and 163 residents in the TAU group. At 8 months, no significant differences in mean CMAI scores were identified between the MARQUE and TAU groups (adjusted difference -0·40 [95% CI -3·89 to 3·09; p=0·8226]). In the intervention care homes, 84% of all eligible staff completed all sessions. The mean difference in cost between the MARQUE and TAU groups was £204 (-215 to 623; p=0·320) and mean difference in quality-adjusted life-years was 0·015 (95% CI -0·004 to 0·034; p=0·127). At 8 months, 27 (14%) of 189 residents in the MARQUE group and 41 (19%) of 215 residents in the TAU group had died. The prescription of antipsychotic drugs was not significantly different between the MARQUE group and the TAU group (odds ratio 0·66; 95% CI 0·26 to 1·69, p=0·3880). INTERPRETATION: The MARQUE intervention was not efficacious for agitation although feasible and cost-effective in terms of quality of life. Addressing agitation in care homes might require resourcing for delivery by professional staff of a more intensive intervention, implementing social and activity times, and a longer time to implement change. FUNDING: UK Economic and Social Research Council and the National Institute of Health Research.

Psychiatric inpatient cost of care before and after admission at a residential subacute step-up/step-down mental health facility.

BACKGROUND: Residential step-up/step-down services provide transitional care and reintegration into the community for individuals experiencing episodes of subacute mental illness. This study aims to examine psychiatric inpatient admissions, length of stay, and per capita cost of care following the establishment of a step-up/step-down Prevention And Recovery Care (PARC) facility in regional Australia. METHODS: This was a pragmatic before and after study set within a participatory action research methodology. The target sample comprised patients at a PARC facility over 15 months. Six-month individual level data prior to study entry, during, and over 6-months from study exit were examined using patient activity records. Costs were expressed in 2015-2016AU$. RESULTS: An audit included 192 people experiencing 243 episodes of care represented by males (58%), mean age = 39.3 years (SD = 12.7), primarily diagnosed with schizophrenia (48%) or mood disorders (30%). The cost of 1 day in a psychiatric inpatient unit was found to be comparable to an average of 5 treatment days in PARC; the mean cost difference per-bed day (AU$1,167) was associated with fewer and shorter inpatient stays. Reduced use of inpatient facility translated into an opportunity cost of improved patient flow equivalent to AU$12,555 per resident (bootstrapped 95% CI = $5,680-$19,280). More noticeable outcomes were observed among those who stayed in PARC for longer during index admission (rs = 0.16, p = 0.024), who have had more and lengthy inpatient stays (rs = 0.52, p < 0.001 and rs = 0.69, p < 0.001), and those who stepped-down from the hospital (p < 0.001). This information could be proactively used within step-up/step-down services to target care to patients most likely to benefit. Despite early evidence of positive association, the results warrant further investigation using an experimental study design with alongside economic evaluation. CONCLUSION: Efforts should be directed toward the adoption of cost-effective alternatives to psychiatric inpatient facilities that provide comparable or improved patient outcomes.

Context before implementation: a qualitative study of decision makers' views of a peer-led healthy lifestyle intervention for people with serious mental illness in supportive housing.

People with serious mental illness die at an earlier age than people in the general population largely due to cardiovascular disease. Healthy lifestyle interventions can help reduce this health inequity. In this qualitative study, we examined the perceptions that decision makers in supportive housing agencies had toward a peer-led healthy lifestyle intervention and their views of contextual factors that could shape implementation at these agencies. A purposive sample of 12 decision makers from three supportive housing agencies was recruited. We presented participants a vignette describing our peer-led intervention and used semistructured qualitative interviews to examine their views. Interviews were recorded, professionally transcribed, and analyzed using directed content analysis. Participants reported positive views toward the intervention with the most valued intervention attributes being relative advantage over existing services, compatibility to clients' needs, ability to pilot the intervention, and cost. A model emerged from our data depicting multilevel contextual factors believed to shape the implementation of our intervention at these agencies, including system- (funding, marketability, and external regulations), organization- (leadership support, fit with organization, staff buy-in and burden), and client-level (adaptability to clients' needs, and clients' buy-in) factors. Study findings illustrate the importance of understanding the context of practice before implementation. This examination can help identify critical views from decision makers that could undermine or advance the integration of peer-led interventions in supportive housing agencies and help identify structures, policies, and organizational practices that can inform the implementation process.

The Adaption of the Client Sociodemographic and Service Receipt Inventory for Costing Mental Health Services in Brazil.

BACKGROUND: There is a scarcity of tested instruments for measuring mental health services and costs. The Client Sociodemographic Service Receipt Inventory (CSSRI) is the most used tool in economic evaluation in mental health in Europe; it was translated into five languages, and it was mainly used to evaluate deinstitutionalisation process in mental health system reform. AIMS OF THE STUDY: To translate and adapt to the Brazilian healthcare system, and to test its inter-rater reliability, validity and its feasibility in a deinstitutionalized sample of psychiatric hospital living in residential facilities. METHOD: The translation and adaptation of CSSRI to Brazilian context was done by a focus group with eight experts on public mental health services, covering all the available Brazilian healthcare services. Decisions on the extent of conceptual overlap between British and Brazilian version were discussed until reaching expert consensus. The inter-rater reliability and applicability of this version, called ``Inventário Sociodemográfico de Uso e Custos de Serviços - ISDUCS'', was tested in a sample of 30 subjects with moderate to severe mental disorders living in residential facilities. Because the lack of medical record or another source, ISDUCS's validity was assessed using Kappa coefficient agreement to compare between resident`s answers and their professional carers`answers. RESULTS: The same structure of the original instrument was kept, with an additional list of items for costing consumable services. The main modifications were on items related to education, occupational status and on detailed descriptions of public health services. The agreement between two mental health raters was good to excellent for the majority of items, with Kappa coefficient ranged from 0.6 to 1.0. Because 43% of the sample was unable to answer questions about regularly taken medications and consultations with health professionals, an exploratory analysis was done to identify potentially related variables. Greater severity of psychiatric symptoms and lower independent living skills were related to the inability to answer these questions. Agreement between residents and carers was good to excellent for socio and demographic variables, living situation and occupational status, income, visits to a psychologist, occupational therapists and social workers. CONCLUSION: ISDUCS is the first tool for economic evaluation including mental health services translated and adapted to Brazilian context. Despite the widespread use of CRSSI among people with schizophrenia in Europe, this study found that greater severity of symptoms led to high rate of missing responses. Inter-rater reliability was excellent as a whole. Small sample size didn't allow generalisation of results of this preliminary testing. IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH PROVISION AND USE: ISDUCS may be suitable for people with mental illness but requires additional sources of information such as carers and medical records. ISDUCS could be used for monitoring health service use in general practice. IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH POLICIES: Despite some limitations, this instrument was used to measure mental health service costs in three Brazilian studies, generating data for supporting local mental health policies, for boosting empirical research in the country and for supporting modelling studies. IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: It should be tested further in other health settings and samples.

Health care utilization and cost after discharge from a mental health hospital; an RCT comparing community residential aftercare and treatment as usual.

BACKGROUND: Community residential aftercare (step-down) services can ease the transition after a mental health hospital stay for patients with severe mental illness (SMI). AIMS: To investigate use of community and specialised mental health care services and costs in patients with SMI the first 12 months after discharge from a mental health hospital (MHH), comparing community residential aftercare (CRA) and treatment as usual. METHODS: An open parallel group randomised controlled trial with 41 participants. Data on use of specialist services (hospital, ambulant treatment and outpatient treatment) and community services (residential stays, home help, home care nursing, mental health consultation) were collected from specialist and community registers and health records. RESULTS: For the primary outcome, utilisation of community mental health services, the intervention group used, on average, 29% fewer hours (mean differences - 21.6 h, 95% CI -93.1 to 44.9, p = .096) with a cost saving of 29% (mean differences - 1845 EUR, 95% CI -8267 to 4171, p = .102), but the estimates were imprecise. For the secondary outcome, the study groups had the same total number of inpatient days (66 days), but the intervention group had on average of 13.4 fewer inpatient days in the mental health hospital (95% CI -29.9 to 0.9. p = .008). The number of inpatient admissions (mean difference - 0.9 admissions, 95% CI -3.5 to 1.5, p = .224) and readmissions (- 0.8, 95% CI -2.5 to 0.9. p = .440) was lower in the intervention group. The intervention group had on average a total cost saving of 38.5% (mean differences - 23,071 EUR, 95% CI -45,450 to 3027. p = .057). A post hoc multivariable regression analysis controlling for baseline characteristics gave a reduction in total cost in favour of the intervention group of - 19,781 EUR (95% CI -44,072 to 4509, p=,107). CONCLUSION: In this study, it was not possible to draw a definite conclusion about the effect, due to the small sample and imprecision of the estimates. The direction of the results and size of the point estimate, in addition to findings in other studies, indicates that transferring patients ready for discharge from mental hospital to community residential aftercare can have the potential to reduce total consumption of health services and costs without increased hospital admissions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registered in clinicaltrials.gov ( NCT01719354 ).

Diabetes care in care home and residential settings.

An increasing number of people require insulin to manage their diabetes, many of them in supported environments such as residential care homes. Community nursing teams are likely to have a growing caseload of care home residents who require diabetes care, including insulin injections, and many unregistered practitioners are being asked to take on this role. If community nurse leads, matrons, frailty teams and pharmacy teams work together to provide training to staff in care homes (particularly unregistered practitioners), diabetes care can be improved. This has to be suitable for groups and for people with different levels of understanding, and supported by written resources. Courses are interactive to engage and motivate all learners, and methods of teaching include group work, visual teaching aids and games. Self-assessment around competencies, using a competency framework, not only demonstrates the development of staff but also highlights key areas of diabetes care.

Economic Evaluations of Falls Prevention Programs for Older Adults: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVES: To provide a comprehensive overview of economic evaluations of falls prevention programs and to evaluate the methodology and quality of these studies. DESIGN: Systematic review of economic evaluations on falls prevention programs. SETTING: Studies (N=31) of community-dwelling older adults (n=25), of older adults living in residential care facilities (n=3), and of both populations (n=3) published before May 2017. PARTICIPANTS: Adults aged 60 and older. MEASUREMENTS: Information on study characteristics and health economics was collected. Study quality was appraised using the 20-item Consensus on Health Economic Criteria. RESULTS: Economic evaluations of falls prevention through exercise (n = 9), home assessment (n = 6), medication adjustment (n = 4), multifactorial programs (n = 11), and various other programs (n = 13) were identified. Approximately two-thirds of all reported incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) with quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) as outcome were below the willingness-to-pay threshold of $50,000 per QALY. All studies on home assessment and medication adjustment programs reported favorable ICERs, whereas the results of studies on exercise and multifactorial programs were inconsistent. The overall methodological quality of the studies was good, although there was variation between studies. CONCLUSION: The majority of the reported ICERs indicated that falls prevention programs were cost-effective, but methodological differences between studies hampered direct comparison of the cost-effectiveness of program types. The results imply that investing in falls prevention programs for adults aged 60 and older is cost-effective. Home assessment programs (ICERs < $40,000/QALY) were the most cost-effective type of program for community-dwelling older adults, and medication adjustment programs (ICERs < $13,000/QALY) were the most cost-effective type of program for older adults living in a residential care facility. J Am Geriatr Soc 66:2197-2204, 2018.

Listening to the community: Using formative research to strengthen maternity waiting homes in Zambia.

BACKGROUND: The WHO recommends maternity waiting homes (MWH) as one intervention to improve maternal and newborn health. However, persistent structural, cultural and financial barriers in their design and implementation have resulted in mixed success in both their uptake and utilization. Guidance is needed on how to design a MWH intervention that is acceptable and sustainable. Using formative research and guided by a sustainability framework for health programs, we systematically collected data from key stakeholders and potential users in order to design a MWH intervention in Zambia that could overcome multi-dimensional barriers to accessing facility delivery, be acceptable to the community and be financially and operationally sustainable. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We used a concurrent triangulation study design and mixed methods. We used free listing to gather input from a total of 167 randomly sampled women who were pregnant or had a child under the age of two (n = 59), men with a child under the age of two (n = 53), and community elders (n = 55) living in the catchment areas of four rural health facilities in Zambia. We conducted 17 focus group discussions (n = 135) among a purposive sample of pregnant women (n = 33), mothers-in-law (n = 32), traditional birth attendants or community maternal health promoters (n = 38), and men with a child under two (n = 32). We administered 38 semi-structured interviews with key informants who were identified by free list respondents as having a stake in the condition and use of MWHs. Lastly, we projected fixed and variable recurrent costs for operating a MWH. Respondents most frequently mentioned distance, roads, transport, and the quality of MWHs and health facilities as the major problems facing pregnant women in their communities. They also cited inadequate advanced planning for delivery and the lack of access to delivery supplies and baby clothes as other problems. Respondents identified the main problems of MWHs specifically as over-crowding, poor infrastructure, lack of amenities, safety concerns, and cultural issues. To support operational sustainability, community members were willing to participate on oversight committees and contribute labor. The annual fixed recurrent cost per 10-bed MWH was estimated as USD543, though providing food and charcoal added another $3,000USD. Respondents identified water pumps, an agriculture shop, a shop for baby clothes and general goods, and grinding mills as needs in their communities that could potentially be linked with an MWH for financial sustainability. CONCLUSIONS: Findings informed the development of an intervention model for renovating existing MWH or constructing new MWH that meets community standards of safety, comfort and services offered and is aligned with government policies related to facility construction, ownership, and access to health services. The basic strategies of the new MWH model include improving community acceptability, strengthening governance and accountability, and building upon existing efforts to foster financial and operational sustainability. The proposed model addresses the problems cited by our respondents and challenges to MWHs identified by in previous studies and elicits opportunities for social enterprises that could serve the dual purpose of meeting a community need and generating revenue for the MWH.

Costs of potentially inappropriate medication use in residential aged care facilities.

BACKGROUND: The potential harms of some medications may outweigh their potential benefits (inappropriate medication use). Despite recommendations to avoid the use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) in older adults, the prevalence of PIM use is high in different settings including residential aged care. However, it remains unclear what the costs of these medications are in this setting. The main objective of this study was to determine the costs of PIMs in older adults living in residential care. A secondary objective was to examine if there was a difference in costs of PIMs in a home-like model of residential care compared to an Australian standard model of care. METHODS: Participants included 541 participants from the Investigation Services Provided in the Residential Environment for Dementia (INSPIRED) Study. The INSPIRED study is a cross-sectional study of 17 residential aged care facilities in Australia. 12 month medication costs were determined for the participants and PIMs were identified using the 2015 updated Beers Criteria for older adults. RESULTS: Of all of the medications dispensed in 1 year, 15.9% were PIMs and 81.4% of the participants had been exposed to a PIM. Log-linear models showed exposure to a PIM was associated with higher total medication costs (Adjusted ß = 0.307, 95% CI 0.235 to 0.379, p < 0.001). The mean proportion (±SD) of medication costs that were spent on PIMs in 1 year was 17.5% (±17.8) (AUD$410.89 ± 479.45 per participant exposed to a PIM). The largest PIM costs arose from proton-pump inhibitors (34.4%), antipsychotics (21.0%) and benzodiazepines (18.7%). The odds of incurring costs from PIMs were 52% lower for those residing in a home-like model of care compared to a standard model of care. CONCLUSIONS: The use of PIMs for older adults in residential care facilities is high and these medications represent a substantial cost which has the potential to be lowered. Further research should investigate whether medication reviews in this population could lead to potential cost savings and improvement in clinical outcomes. Adopting a home-like model of residential care may be associated with reduced prevalence and costs of PIMs.

Direct health and residential care costs of people living with dementia in Australian residential aged care.

OBJECTIVES: This analysis estimates the whole-of-system direct costs for people living with dementia in residential care by using a broad health and social care provision perspective and compares it to people without dementia living in residential care. METHODS: Data were collected from 541 individuals living permanently in 17 care facilities across Australia. The annual cost of health and residential care was determined by using individual resource use data and reported by the dementia status of the individuals. RESULTS: The average annual whole-of-system cost for people living with dementia in residential care was approximately AU$88 000 (US$ 67 100) per person in 2016. The cost of residential care constituted 93% of the total costs. The direct health care costs were comprised mainly of hospital admissions (48%), pharmaceuticals (31%) and out-of-hospital attendances (15%). While total costs were not significantly different between those with and without dementia, the cost of residential care was significantly higher and the cost of health care was significantly lower for people living with dementia. CONCLUSION: This study provides the first estimate of the whole-of-system costs of providing health and residential care for people living with dementia in residential aged care in Australia using individual level health and social care data. This predominantly bottom-up cost estimate indicates the high cost associated with caring for people with dementia living permanently in residential care, which is underestimated when limited cost perspectives or top-down, population costing approaches are taken.

Role of recovery residences in criminal justice reform.

Over the past decade there has been a clear consensus among drug policy researchers that the practice of incarcerating persons for drug offenses has been counterproductive. As a result, U.S. criminal justice policy is increasingly emphasizing alternative dispositions to incarceration for drug related arrests. In addition, large numbers of persons currently incarcerated for drug related offenses are being released into communities. However, there are serious questions about where these individuals are going to live once released and how they will access needed services. Residential recovery homes in the community are good options for those who wish to pursue abstinence from drugs. They provide a drug- and alcohol-free living environment along with social support for abstinence and successful functioning in the community. This paper reviews recent changes in drug policy the U.S. and describes the variety of recovery home options that are available to persons diverted or released from incarceration.

Willingness to Pay for a Maternity Waiting Home Stay in Zambia.

INTRODUCTION: Complications of pregnancy and childbirth can pose serious risks to the health of women, especially in resource-poor settings. Zambia has been implementing a program to improve access to emergency obstetric and neonatal care, including expansion of maternity waiting homes-residential facilities located near a qualified medical facility where a pregnant woman can wait to give birth. Yet it is unclear how much support communities and women would be willing to provide to help fund the homes and increase sustainability. METHODS: We conducted a mixed-methods study to estimate willingness to pay for maternity waiting home services based on a survey of 167 women, men, and community elders. We also collected qualitative data from 16 focus group discussions to help interpret our findings in context. RESULTS: The maximum willingness to pay was 5.0 Zambian kwacha or $0.92 US dollars per night of stay. Focus group discussions showed that willingness to pay is dependent on higher quality of services such as food service and suggested that the pricing policy (by stay or by night) could influence affordability and use. DISCUSSION: While Zambians seem to value and be willing to contribute a modest amount for maternity waiting home services, planners must still address potential barriers that may prevent women from staying at the shelters. These include cash availability and affordability for the poorest households.