Costs of care for elders with and without dementia have also been studied, with estimates made of the value of the informal care provided. Several years ago, Massachusetts Elder Health Project (MEHP) data were used to estimate costs of care for community-residing disabled elders (Harrow et al., 1995). The cost of informal caregiving hours was calculated using a market value approach. The costs of formal services were calculated using actual hourly rates for each type of service used.
The total economic costs of community care (both informal care and formal services) were estimated at $9,552/year (in 1991 dollars). About 80% of these costs were for informal care, representing no expenditure of real dollars by individuals or by the government. As might be expected, cost estimates for informal care of elders with Alzheimer’s Disease are substantially higher, estimated by others in 1991-1992 to be between $43,600 (Max et al., 1995; Rice et al., 1993) and $38,900 (Weinberger et al., 1993). Similarly, from 80-90% of these costs were for informal care. Click here for our caregiver statistical information links page. |
