The economic and social cost of dementia in Ireland

Abstract

The economic and social burden of dementia on society is the value of all the resources used to prevent, diagnose, treat, and generally cope with the illness. There is increasing pressure to define the cost components of dementia with a view to improving resource allocation and accountability in this area in the future. We have assessed the overall resource implications of dementia in Ireland. Six main areas are covered in the cost analysis as follows: mortality and life years lost, in‐patient acute care, in‐patient psychiatric care, residential long‐stay care, family care, and primary and social care in the community. While the results indicate that the baseline cost of illness associated with dementia is substantial at just under IR£250 million, the most important aspect of the work is the distribution of the burden. The critical role of carers in maintaining people with dementia in their own home is reflected in the results showing that family care accounts for almost 50% of the overall resource burden, based on an opportunity cost valuation of carer time. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Cost of dementia in Europe

“…(1995); e Schulenberg et al. (1998); f O'Shea and O'Reilly (2000); g The cost data were inflated to 2004 with inflation and converted to Euro adjusted for purchasing power (European Central Bank, 2004; Eurostat, 2004a, b).…”

From prediction to decision: Optimizing long‐term care placements among older delayed discharge patients

“…For example, in the North West region of Ontario, the main community care provider used the BoC findings to provide additional instrumental activities of daily living support for older adult home care clients who were subsequently removed from the LTC wait list (Kuluski et al., 2015). Scholars in the United Kingdom who developed the BoC model have noted that successful implementation of the BoC approach is contingent upon (1) having a clear target population and (2) specifying a set of required services (O'Shea & O'Reilly, 1999). A critical question here is how and for whom the resources need to shift.…”

Meta-analysis of controlled trials testing horticultural therapy for the improvement of cognitive function

“…More high-quality and more in-depth studies in horticulture are warranted. Population aging induces potential economic and social burdens due to the decline of cognitive function or increased risk of dementia 7,8 . Therefore, governments should consider horticultural therapy or social horticultural activity as important tools to prevent the decline of cognitive function in middle-aged and aging populations.…”