Estimation of the family cost of private nursing home care versus home care for patients with dementia in Taiwan.
BACKGROUND
Although overall estimates of the cost of dementia in Taiwan have been published, the relative cost of home care versus nursing home care for these patients is unclear. This study estimated the costs of home care and nursing home care for families of patients with either Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia in Taiwan.


METHODS
Data from previous reports were used to estimate costs of home care and nursing home care for families of patients with dementia, as well as the prevalence of dementia in Taiwan.


RESULTS
The cost of home care per patient per month was NT$85,256 for patients with Alzheimer's disease and NT$74,152 for patients with vascular dementia. Labor was the predominant factor (96%) in home care. When the cost of labor was deducted from the calculation, the family cost per patient per month was reduced to NT$4,059 for Alzheimer's disease and NT$2,956 for vascular dementia. For patients receiving nursing home care, costs per month per patient were estimated to be NT$28,972 for patients with Alzheimer's disease and NT$31,576 for those with vascular dementia. Nursing home fees were the major component of costs incurred by families (at least 78% of total family costs). For both Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, payment for nursing home services amounted to approximately one-third of the labor costs of home care.


CONCLUSIONS
These results indicate that nursing home placement for dementia patients provides a labor cost-savings for families in Taiwan.
Chiu
L
L
Department of Nursing, Kang-Ning Junior College of Nursing, 137, Lane 75, Kang-Ning Road, Sec. 3, Nei-Hu, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Shyu
W C
WC
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000191:economics*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000191:economics*; D005190:Family; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000191:economics*; D013624:Taiwan