Caregiver Support Delays Alzheimer Patients' Nursing Home Placement

People with Alzheimer disease may stay out of nursing homes longer if their spouses receive individualized support and counseling, according to a study in Neurology.

Some 400 caregiver-spouses of patients with AD were randomized to a specialized, university-based support program -- including six sessions of individual and family counseling followed by ongoing support groups and telephone access to counselors -- or to usual care, which included optional access to support services. AD patients whose spouses received specialized support stayed out of nursing homes an average of 1.5 years longer than the other group.

Caregivers' increased satisfaction with social support, acceptance of patients' problem behaviors, and reduced depression accounted for most of the reduction in nursing home placement.

The authors estimate an average cost savings of $90,000 per patient -- "a pretty dramatic impact," says Peter Reed of the Alzheimer's Association, quoted in USA Today.