Integrated palliative homecare in advanced dementia: reduced healthcare utilisation and costs

ObjectivesTo determine the economic benefit of an integrated home-based palliative care programme for advanced dementia (Programme Dignity), evaluation is required. This study aimed to estimate Programme Dignity's average monthly cost from a provider's perspective; and compare healthcare utilisation and costs of programme patients with controls, accounting for enrolment duration. MethodsThis was a retrospective cohort study. Home-dwelling patients with advanced dementia (stage 7 on the functional assessment staging in Alzheimer's disease) with a history of pneumonia, albumin <35 g/L or tube-feeding and known to be deceased were analysed (Programme Dignity=184, controls=139). One-year programme operational costs were apportioned on a per patient-month basis. Cumulative healthcare utilisation and costs were examined at 1, 3 and 6 months look-back from death. Between-group comparisons used Poisson, zero-inflated Poisson regressions and generalised linear models. ResultsThe average monthly programme cost was SGD$1311 (SGD-Pounds exchange rate: 0.481) per patient. Fully enrolled programme patients were less likely to visit the emergency department (incidence rate ratios (IRRs): 1 month=0.56; 3 months=0.19; 6 months=0.10; all p<0.001), be admitted to hospital (IRRs: 1 month=0.60; 3 months=0.19; 6 months=0.15; all p<0.001), had a lower cumulative length of stay (IRRs: 1 month=0.78; 3 months=0.49; 6 months=0.24; all p<0.001) and incurred lesser healthcare utilisation costs (beta-coefficients: 1 month=0.70; 3 months=0.40; 6 months=0.43; all p<0.01) at all time-points examined. ConclusionProgramme Dignity for advanced dementia reduces healthcare utilisation and costs. If scalable, it may benefit more patients wishing to remain at home at the end-of-life, allowing for a potentially sustainable care model to cope with rapid population ageing. It contributes to the evidence base of advanced dementia palliative care and informs healthcare policy making. Future studies should estimate informal caregiving costs for comprehensive economic evaluation.

Automated summary

This study evaluates the economic benefit of a home-based palliative care program (Programme Dignity) for patients with advanced dementia. The results show that the program reduces healthcare utilization and costs, and provides support for caregivers. If scalable, this care model could benefit more patients who wish to stay at home at the end-of-life, and contribute to addressing the challenges of population aging.